Expression of peripheral T lymphoma cells from p53 deficient. Mus musculus

Some infectious agents are associated with non-Hodgkin lymphoma development. Here we have used p53-deficient mice chronically injected with Streptococcus pneumoniae (Spn) with the aim to develop an animal model of infection-associated lymphomagenesis. We show that repeated stimulations with heat-killed Spn significantly enhanced the incidence of peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) in these mice. Phenotypic studies and gene expression profile analyses indicate that these PTCL arose from chronically stimulated natural killer T (NKT) cells, a T cell lineage that exhibits unique properties. Furthermore, lymphoma development was blocked when these PTCL were transferred to recipients lacking CD1d expression or treated with blocking CD1d mAbs, thus demonstrating that in vivo TCR/CD1d interactions are required for these PTCL survival. In conclusion, we have identified a new entity of peripheral T-cell lymphoma that originates from CD1d-restricted natural killer T (NKT) cells. Our results could refine the classification of PTCL and pave the way for the development of new immunotherapeutic approaches. Overall design: 23 samples: 5 PTCL from PBS-injected mice; 4 PTCL from Spn-injected mice; 3 Thymic lymphoma (TL); 6 control T cells (3 repetitions of resting T cells and 3 repetitions of in vitro activated T cells); 5 control NKT cells (3 repetitions of resting NKT cells and 2 repetitions of in vitro activated NKT cells)