Abstract
Periodontitis is the chronic inflammation caused by bacteria in dental plaque. The interaction between immunocompetent cells, such as T cells and fibroblasts may be involved in the pathogenesis. Integrins and chemokines play important roles in cell adhesion, transmigration and proliferation at such sites of the inflammation. We examined the effects of chemokines, such as MCP-1, RANTES and fractalkine, on binding of PHA-activated T cells to immobilized ICAM-1 and extracellular matrix proteins (ECMs), such as fibronectin, laminin and collagen with a novel adhesion assay system using BrdU. PHA-activated T cells adhered to ICAM-1 and ECMs in a dose-dependent manner and PMA markedly enhanced the adhesion of PHA-activated T cells to ICAM and ECMs. The CC-chemokines, such as MCP-1 and RANTES, enhanced adhesion of PHA-activated T cells to ICAM-1, but not to ECMs, whereas, the CX3C-chemokine, fractalkine had no effect on PHA-activated T cell adhesion. To examine the natural setting of the interaction between T cells and fibroblasts, the binding of PHA-activated T cells to immobilized fibroblast like cell line, E 11 cells was examined. We found that adhesion of PHA-activated T cells to E 11 cells was ICAM-1-dependent and that MCP-1 and RANTES, but not fractalkine, enhanced binding of PHA-activated T cells to E 11 cells.
These results suggest that some chemokines have important roles in adhesion of T cells to fibroblasts, which may be involved in pathogenesis of periodontitis through enhancing immunologic reaction at the inflammatory sites. J. Jpn. Soc. Periodontol., 41: 77-86, 1999.
