Expression of several members of the TNF-ligand and receptor family on tonsillar lymphoid B cells.

Although the expression patterns of the members of the tumour necrosis factor receptor and ligand families have extensively been studied by flow-cytometry on stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNC), little or no flow-cytometric or immunohistological data exist about their expression in lymphoid tissue. According to the data obtained from stimulated PBMNC, several members of these molecule families (e.g. CD40 ligand [CD40L], CD30, CD27, hOX40) have been considered to be either T-cell restricted or strongly T-cell associated. The present study on samples from palatine tonsils revealed that most of these molecules are also expressed by tonsillar B cells. The additional analysis of the co-expression of these molecules also disclosed the existence of CD40+/CD40L+ and CD27+/CD70+ (CD27L+) lymphoid cells in tonsillar tissue.