Eukaryotic heat shock proteins as molecular links in innate and adaptive immune responses: Hsp60-mediated activation of cytotoxic T cells

Heat shock proteins (HSP) like Hsp60, Hsp70 and gp96 act directly on antigen-presenting cells (APC), e.g. by inducing the secretion of cytokines. Here we analyzed the impact of Hsp60 on the antigen-specific activation of CD8+ T cells in a TCR transgenic system. Hsp60 induced low amounts of IFN-γ in the absence of antigenic peptide; however, the release of IFN-γ is increased by a factor of 3–10 following the addition of Hsp60 to purified populations of OT-1 [ovalbumin (OVA)257–264/H2-Kb-restricted] T cells and antigen-pulsed peritoneal exudate cells (PEC) as APC. This effect is strictly correlated with the PEC ability to produce IL-12. In contrast, antigen-specific IL-2 secretion and T cell proliferation was not changed in the presence of Hsp60. Hsp60-containing OT-1 T cell cultures produced IFN-γ even when the number of antigenic MHC class I complexes was too low to be stimulatory and could not be detected with specific mAb. Hsp60, thus, acts as a catalyzing molecule to initiate both innate and adaptive immune responses, and its presence (e.g. during an infection with cellular destruction) has direct consequences for the activation of otherwise `ignorant' antigen-specific T cells.