Eur J Immunol. 2003 Oct;33(10):2706-16
Liang SC, Latchman YE, Buhlmann JE, Tomczak MF, Horwitz BH, Freeman
GJ, Sharpe AH.
Division of Medical Sciences, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA.
Newer members of the B7-CD28 superfamily include the receptor PD-1 and its two ligands, PD-L1 and PD-L2.
Here, we characterize the expression of PD-1, PD-L1, and PD-L2 in tissues of naive miceand in target organs from two models of autoimmunity, the pancreas from non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice and brain from mice with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE).
In naive mice, proteiexpression of PD-1, PD-L1, and PD-L2 was detected in the thymus, while PD-1 and PD-L1 were detected in the spleen.
PD-L1, but not PD-L2, was also detected at low levels on cardiac endothelium, pancreatic islets, and syncyciotrophoblasts in the placenta.
In pre-diabetic NOD mice, PD-1 and PD-L1 were expressed on infiltrating cells in the pancreatic islets.
Furthermore, PD-L1 was markedly up-regulated on islet cells.
In brains from mice with EAE, PD-1, PD-L1, and PD-L2 were expressed on infiltrating inflammatory cells, and PD-L1 was up-regulated on endothelium within EAE brain.
The distinct expression patterns of PD-L1 and PD-L2 led us to compare their transcriptional regulation in STAT4(-/-), STAT6(-/-), or NF-kappaB p50(-/-)p65(+/-) dendritic cells (DC).PD-L2, but not PD-L1, expression was dramatically reduced in p50(-/-)p65(+/-) DC.
Thus, PD-L1 and PD-L2 exhibit distinct expression patterns and are differentially regulated on the transcriptional level.