Human CD8+ T cell blasts are more sensitive than CD4+ T cell blasts to regulation by APO2L/TRAIL.

The mechanisms responsible for the down-modulation of the activation of separated CD4(+) or CD8(+) human T cell blasts were studied using cells obtained from healthy donors. In the presence of IL-2, human CD8(+) T cell blasts were more sensitive than CD4(+) T cell blasts to regulation by APO2 ligand/TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (APO2L/TRAIL), while both T cell subsets were equally sensitive to Fas/CD95 regulation. This regulation was defined as inhibition of IL-2-dependent T cell growth in the absence of cell death induction, characterized by cell cycle arrest in G(2)/M. The physiological validity of these observations was corroborated by the demonstration of intracellular FasL and APO2L/TRAIL expression in CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cell blasts, which were secreted in their bioactive form into the supernatant upon PHA, CD3 or CD59 reactivation. Additionally, the inhibition of IL-2-dependent CD4(+) or CD8(+) T cell blast growth upon CD3 or CD59 ligation was dependent, at least partially, on FasL and/or APO2L/TRAIL. These data precisely define the role of APO2L/TRAIL in the regulation of human T cell activation.