The Combination of the Gastrointestinal Integrin (alpha4/beta7) and Selectin Ligand Enhances T-Cell Migration to the Reproductive Tract During Infection with Chlamydia trachomatis

摘要

Sexually transmitted infections caused by Chlamydia trachomatis induce infection in the upper reproductivetract.~1Animal models of chlamydial genital tract (GT) infection have demonstrated that CD4 Thl cells are necessary for eradication of chlamydiae from the murine GT.~2-3The anatomic location of initial antigenexposure can define the homing properties of a memory T-cell population irrespective of the antigenic stimulus. Investigation of murine and human systems have shown that CD4 T-cells primed in lymphoid organs which drain mucosal sites increase surface expression of alpha4/beta7 integrin, also called the mucosal integrin; whereas those primed in lymph nodes draining peripheral or non-mucosal sites lose alpha4/beta7 integrin expression following antigen exposure and instead express P-selectin ligand and accumulate in peripheral tissues.~4-5The human female reproductive tract is a member of the common immune system and expresses the ligand for alpha4/beta7 integrin, MAdCAM-1. Thus, mucosal homing mechanisms are likely to control leukocyte entry into the GT.