Regional specialization of the mucosal immune system. Intraepithelial lymphocytes of the large intestine have a different phenotype and function than those of the small intestine.

摘要: Intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL) are found in both the small and large intestine. We demonstrate that there a number of striking phenotypic functional differences between two populations IEL isolated from mice. In intestine, majority express alpha beta TCR, among these TCR-alpha beta+ lymphocytes, CD4+ cells as prevalent CD8+ cells. contrast, most CD8, an increased percentage TCR-gamma delta. addition, delta+ intestine (LI-IEL) CD4- CD8- cells, compared to (SI-IEL), which predominantly CD8+. Furthermore, CD2 lymph node homing receptor, L-selectin, expressed by LI-IEL but not SI-IEL. have much less cytolytic activity than These data suggest distinct population may different immunologic role