We have previously showed that plasma membrane cholesterol and GM1 ganglioside content are responsible for the opposite sensitivity of mouse leukemic T cells to ATP. We also reported that the sensitivity of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells to ATP depends on their stage of differentiation. Here, we show that CD4+ and CD8+ T cells from B6 mice express different levels of membrane GM1 and P2X7 but similar levels of cholesterol. Thus, in CD4+ T cells, membrane cholesterol content negatively correlated with ATP/P2X7-induced CD62L shedding but positively correlated with pore formation, phosphatidylserine externalization, and cell death. By contrast, in CD8+ T cells, cholesterol, GM1, and P2X7 levels negatively correlated with all these ATP/P2X7-induced cellular responses. The relationship between cholesterol and P2X7-induced cellular responses was confirmed by modulating cholesterol levels either ex vivo or through a high-fat diet. Membrane cholesterol enrichment ex vivo led to a significant reduction in all P2X7-induced cellular responses in T cells. Importantly, diet-induced hypercholesterolemia in B6 mice was also associated with decreased sensitivity to ATP in CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, highlighting the relationship between cholesterol intake and the amplitudes of P2X7-induced cellular responses in T cells.
Keywords: P2X7 receptor; T-cell subsets; cholesterol; high fat diet.