Abstract:Glatiramer acetate (GA) is a first-line agent for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, and it exerts an immunomodulatory function by inducing regulatory CD8+ T cells. In order to investigate GA-induced CD8+ T cells, the lectins AAL (Agrocybe aegerita lectin) and AAL2 were used to analyze the glycosylation level and cytokine expression in CD8+ T lymphocytes in the spleen and inguinal lymph nodes in GA-induced, immune-tolerant mice, by biotin-labeling and flow cytometry. The results showed that the percentages of AAL+CD8+ and AAL2+CD8+ T lymphocytes in the spleen were 8.46 ± 3.1% and 9.08 ± 2.8%, respectively; and the percentages of AAL+CD8+ and AAL2+CD8+ T lymphocytes in the inguinal lymph nodes were 10.65 ± 4.6% and 8.25 ± 5.9%, respectively. Moreover, the percentages of AAL+ cells in CD8+ T lymphocytes in both the spleen and inguinal lymph nodes were significantly higher than those in the CD8- T lymphocytes (p <0.05). In the inguinal lymph nodes, the proportion of AAL+CD8+ T cells expressing IFN-γ was significantly higher than that of AAL-CD8+ T cells, and the proportion of cells expressing IFN-γ+ and perforin in AAL2+CD8+ T cells was also significantly higher than that in AAL2-CD8+ T cells. These studies provide preliminary data for studies on the surface glycosylation of CD8+ T lymphocytes, and indicate that glycosylation level is associated with cytokine secretion.
