Rajita Kunyaboon. The mechanism of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria clone dominant : the role of apoptosis of non-mutated cells in the expansion of mutated cells . Master's Degree(Immunology). Mahidol University. : Mahidol University, 2006.
The mechanism of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria clone dominant : the role of apoptosis of non-mutated cells in the expansion of mutated cells
Abstract:
Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) is an acquired hematopoietic
stem cell disorder with various clinical manifestations including intravascular
hemolysis, deficient hematopoiesis, and thrombosis. The PIG-A gene encodes a
protein essential in the early step of glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) biosynthesis.
The mutation of the PIG-A gene results in a deficiency of GPI-linked membrane
proteins in various hematopoietic cells, especially CD55 (decay accelerating factor;
DAF) and CD59 (membrane inhibitor of reactive lysis; MIRL) which protect blood
cells from complement mediated lysis. The mechanism by which a PNH clone expand
is the major current concern. This study investigates how PNH cells deficient in GPIlinked
proteins expand and contribute substantially to hematopoiesis in PNH patients
by considering the hypothesis that the autoimmune process selects and destroys nonmutated
cells.
Peripheral blood samples from 21 PNH patients and 35 healthy volunteers
were subjected to apoptosis assay, analysis of the number of CD8+ T cells, NKT cells,
and NK cells, and hemopoietic progenitor cell assay.
In PNH patients, CD59(+) granulocytes showed more apoptosis than CD59(-)
granulocytes. Mononuclear cells (MNCs) were shown to affect the apoptosis of
CD59(+) granulocytes as indicated by the significant increase in apoptosis of CD59(+)
granulocytes compared with CD59(-) granulocytes in a culture conditioned with
MNCs after 4 hours. The sensitivity to autologous MNCs of CD59(+) granulocytes
from PNH patients was higher than that to CD59(+) granulocytes from normal
controls. The analysis of the number of CD8+ T cells, NKT cells, and NK cells in
PNH patients showed no significant increase of these cells. With hemopoietic
progenitor cell assay, the CD8+ T cells were shown to be possibly responsible for the
destruction of hematopoietic stem cells in PNH patients as demonstrated by the
significant growth inhibition in the CFU-GM (but not in BFU-E).
The greater apoptosis of CD59(+) granulocytes and hemopoietic inhibition by
the CD8+ T cells in PNH patients suggests the sensitivity to the destruction of nonmutated
cells and growth disadvantage of PNH stem cells. In addition, these findings
indicate the possible role of autoreactive lymphocytes in the pathogenesis of PNH.