천식 환자의 말초혈액단핵구에서 아토피 유무에 따른 전사인자 T -bet 발현의 차이 = Cellular Sources of T-bet in Asthma are Determined by Atopic Status천식 환자의 말초혈액단핵구에서 아토피 유무에 따른 전사인자 T -bet 발현의 차이

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Background: T-bet is considered as a master transcriptional factor that appears to regulate lineage commitment of CD4+T cells in part by activating the TH1 cytokine IFN-V. As the IFN-V is also produced by CD8+ T cells, CD56+CD3-NK cells and CD56+CD3+ NKT cells, T-bet may also be expressed in these cells. However, expression and cellular sources of this factor are still unknown in asthmatics. Objective: Our aim was to investigate the expressions of T-bet in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) according to presence of atopy and asthma. Method: PBMCs were obtained from nonatopic controls, atopic asthmatics and nonatopic asthmatics. Expressions of T-bet according to lymphocytes subtype were analyzed using three-color flow cytometry. 122 Result: Among the T-bet expressing lymphocytes, percentage of CD3+ T cells and CD56+CD3- NK cells were similar in nonatopic controls. CD3+ T cells were prominent source of T-bet compared to CD56+CD3- NK cells in nonatopic asthmatics (P＜0.05). CD56+CD3- NK cells were prominent sources of T-bet compared to CD3+ T cells in atopic asthmatics (P＜0.05). The proportion of T-bet positive CD56+CD3+ NKT cells of both controls and nonatopic asthmatics had a high tendency compared to the atopic asthmatics. Conclusion: This result provides the first evidence about cellular sources of T-bet in PBMCs of asthmatics. The main source of T-bet is different according to presence of atopy. (Korean J Asthma Allergy Clin Immunol 2006;26:122-128)