Rheumatoid fibroblast‐like synoviocytes overexpress the chemokine stromal cell–derived factor 1 (CXCL12), which supports distinct patterns and rates of CD4+ and CD8+ T cell migration within synovial tissue

Abstract

These studies demonstrate that features intrinsic to both fibroblasts (the production of SDF-1) and CD8/CD4 T cells (the expression of CXCR4) are responsible for the characteristic pattern of T lymphocyte accumulation seen in the rheumatoid synovium. These findings suggest that the SDF-1/CXCR4 ligand/receptor pair is likely to play an important functional role in T lymphocyte accumulation and positioning within the rheumatoid synovium.