CXCL9/Mig Mediates T cells Recruitment to Valvular Tissue Lesions of Chronic Rheumatic Heart Disease Patients

• DOI: 10.1007/s10753-013-9606-2
• Publication Date: 2013-02-16T03:45:45Z
• Authors: Kellen C. Faé; Selma A. Palacios; Luciana G. Nogueira; Sandra E. Oshiro; Léa M. F. Demarchi; Angelina M. B. Bi...; Pablo M. A. Pomer...; Carlos Brandão; Petronio G. Thomaz; Maxwell dos Reis; Roney Sampaio; Ana C. Tanaka; Edecio Cunha-Neto; Jorge Kalil; Luiza Guilherme
• Keywords: Adult; CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes; Male; 0301 basic medicine; Adolescent; Immunology; Chemokine CXCL9; Article; Chemokine CCL1; 03 medical and health sciences; Cell Movement; Immunology and Allergy; Humans; Child; Chemokine CCL3; Neovascularization, Pathologic; Myocardium; Rheumatic Heart Disease; Middle Aged; Fibrosis; Heart Valves; 3. Good health; Child, Preschool; Female; Rheumatic Fever; Immunologic Memory

Rheumatic fever (RF) is an autoimmune disease triggered by Streptococcus pyogenes infection frequently observed in infants from developing countries. Rheumatic heart disease (RHD), the major sequel of RF, leads to chronic inflammation of the myocardium and valvular tissue. T cells are the main population infiltrating cardiac lesions; however, the chemokines that orchestrate their recruitment are not clearly defined. Here, we investigated the expression of chemokines and chemokine receptors in cardiac tissue biopsies obtained from chronic RHD patients. Our results showed that CCL3/MIP1α gene expression was upregulated in myocardium while CCL1/I-309 and CXCL9/Mig were highly expressed in valvular tissue. Auto-reactive T cells that infiltrate valvular lesions presented a memory phenotype (CD4(+)CD45RO(+)) and migrate mainly toward CXCL9/Mig gradient. Collectively, our results show that a diverse milieu of chemokines is expressed in myocardium and valvular tissue lesions and emphasize the role of CXCL9/Mig in mediating T cell recruitment to the site of inflammation in the heart.