Abstract: Objective To study the antigen presenting function of keratinocytes to CD8⁺ T cells with specific TCR.Methods PAM212 transfectants,which express H-2K^b/ovalbumin complex,aa 257-264,were used as stimulating cells,and naive or primed CD8⁺ T cells with ovalbumin specific TCR were used as respon-ders.³H-thymidin uptake values were used as indicators of T cell proliferation.Results With prestimulation of IFN-γ,the proliferation of primed T cells but not naive T cells could be stimulated by PAM-OK cells.Conclusion Keratinocytes have the potential to stimulate the proliferation of TCR specific CD8⁺ T cells,which might explain the persistence of local immune reaction in some involved skin.

Key words: Keratinocytes, Antigen presentation, CD8-positive T-lymphocytes