Identification of natural killer (nk) cells in lesions of human cutaneous graft-versus-host disease: Expression of a novel nk-associated surface antigen (kp43) in mononuclear infiltrates

Abstract We performed an immunohistochemical analysis of skin biopsies from 13 allogeneic bone marrow transplant (BMT) recipients, undergoing either acute graft-versus-host-disease (aGVHD, n=8) or chronic GVHD (cGVHD, n=5). A panel of different monoclonal antibodies (MoAb) was employed including anti-CD2, -CD3, -CD4, -CD8, -CD11b, -CD16, -CD56, and -CD57, as well as a recently described reagent (HP-3B1) specific for a novel natural killer (NK)-associated cell-surface antigen (Kp43). Our data indicate that in aGVHD lesions the proportions of CD2 + cells often exceeded those detected with anti-CD3 MoAb. Double labeling confirmed the presence of CD2 + CD3 - lymphocytes and suggested the coexpression in some cells of CD2 and CD 11b. When MoAb specific for non-lineage-restricted NK-associated markers were employed, anti-CD56 and -CD57 occasionally stained variable numbers of lymphocytes (x = 14.6% of mononuclear cells in 0.05 mm 2 , range