Antigen-specific enhancements of CD80 mRNA expression in experimentally sensitized dogs with Japanese cedar pollen

CD80, CD86, CD28 and Cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4) are well-known co-stimulatory molecules that form the major co-stimulatory pathway essential for full activation of T cells. To investigate their role in pathogenesis of immune-mediated diseases, 12 dogs were sensitized experimentally to Japanese cedar pollen antigen (CPAg) as models of allergic diseases in dogs. After sensitization, lymphocyte stimulation test (LST) was carried out to evaluate reactivity to CPAg, and semi-quantitative real-time RT-PCR analysis of CPAg-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) to evaluate the expression of co-stimulatory molecules. As a result, CPAg-specific enhancements of CD80 expression were detected in all sensitized dogs. Furthermore, two different kinetics of its enhancements according to the blastgenic responses to CPAg were also observed. Expression of CD28, CTLA-4 and CD86 were suppressed following CPAg-stimulation. The result of the present study indicated the potential role of the CD28-CD80 co-stimulation pathway in pathogenesis of allergic diseases in dogs.