The Foxp3 expression was similar in ATL and HAMSS, but significantly higher in HAM-SS than AC-SS (p<0.05). p65 was expressed in LSG MNC nuclei from all SS patients and co-expressed with Foxp3.
We describe here different features in Foxp3 expression profile between normal and leukemic CD4(+)CD25(+) T cells, using peripheral blood samples from healthy controls (HCs), human T-cell leukemia virus type-1 (HTLV-1)-infected asymptomatic carriers (ACs), patients with adult T-cell leukemia (ATL), and various hematopoietic cell lines.
These results indicate that Foxp3 expression is variable in ATL cases and that Foxp3-high ATL cells, which resemble Treg phenotypically as well as functionally, may be involved in immune suppression in ATL.