Mechanism of peripheral T cell activation by coengagement of CD44 and CD2.

A number of CD44 antibodies are known to augment peripheral T cell proliferation stimulated with suboptimal concentrations of activating pairs of CD2 mAb. These findings have implicated the CD44 adhesion receptor in the activation of peripheral T cells via CD2. We have investigated early events after CD44 and CD2 coengagement on peripheral T cells. CD44 and CD2 coengagement resulted in enhanced [Ca2+]i mobilization. However, the increase in [Ca2+]i mobilization did not occur until at least 3 min after CD2 and CD44 coengagement, suggesting that other events precede the elevation in [Ca2+]i. Using a T cell/fibroblast adhesion assay, we could demonstrate a dramatic increase in T cell adhesiveness after about 1 min after CD44 and CD2 coengagement. The increase in T cell adhesiveness was comparable to that induced by PMA. In the absence of antibodies or treatment with mAb directed to other T cell surface Ag, there was little if any adhesion between unstimulated peripheral T cells and fibroblasts. Enhancement of T cell adhesiveness through CD44 engagement was not mediated by a direct effect on lymphocyte-function associated Ag-3, the known ligand of CD2. However, cross-linking of CD44 resulted in epitopic modulation of CD2 as demonstrated by the increased expression of the T11(3) activation epitope. Furthermore, anti-CD44 could substitute for anti-T11(2) in the activation of peripheral T cells via CD2. These results suggest that CD44 ligation has profound effects on CD2-mediated events by inducing epitopic modulation of CD2.