Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cells recovered from eyes of patients with Behçet's disease recognize non-peptide prenyl pyrophosphate antigens.

The phenotype and antigen-specificity of T cells expanded by mitogenic stimulation from intra-ocular fluid (IOF) samples of affected eyes of six Behçet's disease (BD) patients, and seven patients with other uveitis entities, were determined. High numbers of γδ T cells, predominantly Vγ9Vδ2 T cells, were only detected in the IOF-derived TCL of three BD patients. Whereas no TCL responded to heat shock protein (HSP) 65 kDa, reactivity to isopentyl pyrophosphate (IPP) and related non-peptide prenyl pyrophosphates (PPP) was restricted to the γδ T cell containing TCL. Upon IPP stimulation, these TCL secreted IFN-γ but no IL-4. By single-cell analysis of intracellular IFN-γ production and CD69 expression the IOF-derived IPP-specific T cells were identified as CD4−CD8− γδ T cells. The data presented suggest the infiltration of PPP-specific Vγ9Vδ2 Th1-like cells into the eye of BD patients with uveitis.

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