One severe complication of celiac disease is enteropathy-associated T cell lymphoma, a high-grade invasive lymphoma with a very poor prognosis. Previous research has suggested that chronic exposure of immune cells in the walls of the small intestine, which are known as intraepithelial lymphocytes, to potent anti-death signals initiated by the soluble factor IL-15 contributes to the development of enteropathy-associated T cell lymphoma. A team of researchers, at INSERM U989, Université René Descartes, France, has now identified the survival signals delivered by IL-15 to freshly isolated human intraepithelial lymphocytes and to intraepithelial lymphocyte cell lines derived from patients with type II refractory celiac disease — a clinical state considered an intermediary step between celiac disease and enteropathy-associated T cell lymphoma. Importantly, treatment with an antibody directed at IL-15 caused intraepithelial lymphocytes to die and wiped out their accumulation in mice overexpressing human IL-15 in the lining of their gut. The team, led by Nadine Cerf-Bensussan and Bertrand Meresse, therefore suggests that IL-15 and its downstream survival signals might provide new targets for the treatment of type II refractory celiac disease.
TITLE: IL-15 triggers an antiapoptotic pathway in human intraepithelial lymphocytes that is a potential new target in celiac disease–associated inflammation and lymphomagenesis
AUTHOR CONTACT:
Nadine Cerf-Bensussan
INSERM U989, Université René Descartes, Paris, France.
Phone: 33.140615302; Fax: 33.140615638; E-mail: nadine.cerfbensussan@inserm.fr .
Bertrand Meresse
INSERM U989, Université René Descartes, Paris, France.
Phone: 33.140615302; Fax: 33.140615638; E-mail: bertrand.meresse@inserm.fr .
View this article at: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/41344?key=e1dc4f9eec5f2e932a64
Journal of Clinical Investigation