Growth hormone modulates migration of thymocytes and peripheral T cells

Abstract

In the context of immunoneuroendocrine cross talk, growth hormone (GH) exerts pleiotropic effects in the immune system. For example, GH-transgenic mice, as well as animals and humans treated with GH, exhibit enhanced cellularity in the thymus. GH also stimulates the thymic microenvironment, augmenting chemokine and extracellular matrix (ECM) production, with consequent increase in ECM- and chemokine-driven thymocyte migratory responses. Peripheral T cell migration triggered by laminin or fibronectin was enhanced in cells from GH-transgenic versus wild-type control adult mice, as seen for CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells from mesenteric lymph nodes. Migration of these T lymphocytes, triggered by the chemokine CXCL12, in conjunction with laminin or fibronectin, was also enhanced compared with control counterparts. Considering that GH can be used as an adjuvant therapy in immunodeficiencies, including AIDS, the concepts defined herein, that GH enhances developing and peripheral T cell migration, provide new clues for future GH-related immune interventions.