CD8+ T cells can be primed in vitro to produce IL-4.
IL-4 production by T lymphocytes from naive mice in response to stimulation by plate-bound anti-CD3 is concentrated among CD4+ T cells. In vitro stimulation of lymph node T cells with anti-CD3 plus IL-2 and IL-4 strikingly increases the frequency of cells that produce IL-4 in response to subsequent stimulation with anti-CD3 plus IL-2. Separation of these primed cell populations into CD4+ and CD8+ T cell by cell sorting reveals that the frequency of IL-4-producing cells in both population is similar. Verification that CD8+ T cells produce IL-4 is provided by the capacity of anti-IL-4 mAb to inhibit the response of the indicator cell line to the growth factor produced by the primed cells and by detection of IL-4 by an IL-4-specific ELISA. The in vitro "priming" of CD8+ T cells to produce IL-4 is not dependent on the presence of CD4+ T cells because highly purified CD8+ T cells can be stimulated to develop into cells capable of producing IL-4 by culture with plate-bound anti-CD3 plus IL-2 and IL-4.
Laboratory of Immunology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, MD 20892.
R A
RA
Seder
J L
JL
Boulay
F
F
Finkelman
S
S
Barbier
S Z
SZ
Ben-Sasson
G
G
Le Gros
W E
WE
Paul
D000818:Animals; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000502:physiology; D016827:CD8 Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000096:biosynthesis; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000096:biosynthesis; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000502:physiology*
D016827:CD8 Antigens; D007376:Interleukin-2; D015847:Interleukin-4; D007371:Interferon-gamma