DN T cells participate in tissue injury in SLE
The role that DN T cells play in SLE is still a subject of debate. Some studies have indicated that the accumulation of DN T cells is not associated with anti-dsDNA antibody production and tissue injury7, 35, 36, but recent studies have indicated that DN T cells play an important role in the development of SLE6, 19, 37. Researchers have demonstrated that DN T cells can accumulate in the spleen and simultaneously significantly infiltrate the kidney in lupus mice 6, 37. The adoptive transfer of DN T cells into preclinical young lupus mice was also demonstrated to obviously cause or exacerbate tissue injuries and promote the progression of lupus in an SLE murine model6, 19. DN T cells in lupus mice are strongly cytotoxic. The over-expression of FasL in hyperactivated cytolytic DN T cells may result in autoimmune disease and may attack tissues that express small amounts of Fas receptors 6, 19, 20, 37.