Macrophages Represent the Major Pool of Interleukin-7 Receptor- α Expressing Immune Cells in Patients with Myocarditis

Myocarditis is an inflammatory heart disease which involves a large number of cytokine receptors. In order to identify potential key signalling cascades we screened a number of receptors by Western blot and found high expression of the interleukin-7 (IL-7) receptor- α (IL-7Rα). Since IL-7 is usually required for the development of B as well as T lymphocytes we wanted to determine the major cell type(s) expressing this receptor. Importantly, immune cells might be also a source of IL-7.
Source: The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation - Category: Transplant Surgery Authors: Source Type: research