Comparison of lymphokine secretion and responsiveness of human T cell clones isolated in IL-4 and in IL-2.
Interleukin (IL)-4 has been shown to be secreted simultaneously with IL-2 and interferon (IFN)-gamma by the majority of CD4+ human T cell clones isolated and cultured using IL-2 as a growth factor. Moreover, IL-4 was found to be as efficient as IL-2 to promote the outgrowth of human T cell clones. In this study we have investigated the pattern of lymphokine production by human T cell clones isolated and cultured in IL-4. Most of the CD4+ T cell clones isolated in IL-4 were found to have the ability to simultaneously secrete IL-2, IL-4, and IFN-gamma upon activation. The T cell clones isolated in IL-4 produced, in general, more IL-4 and less IL-2 than the clones isolated and cultured in IL-2. This tendency did not appear to be a stable feature inasmuch as when representative CD4+ T cell clones were split and cultured in either IL-2 or IL-4, the clones in IL-2 secreted more IL-2 and less IL-4 than the same cells cultured in IL-4. These results indicate that the isolation and culture of human CD4+ T cells in IL-4 did not lead to an "irreversible" development of these cells into Th-1- or Th-2-like cells. Clones isolated in IL-4 responded better to IL-4 than they did to IL-2. On the other hand, T cell clones from the same donor isolated in IL-2 showed the reverse pattern since these latter cells were found to respond better to IL-2 than to IL-4. Furthermore, "nonresponsiveness" of a T cell clones in a [3H]TdR assay to either IL-2 or IL-4 is not a stable feature since clones, unresponsive to a particular lymphokine, could be adapted to become responsive.
Paliard
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DNAX Research Institute, Human Immunology Department, Palo Alto, California 94304-1104.
de Vries
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JE
Spits
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D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000032:analysis; D002999:Clone Cells; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000378:metabolism*; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2 / Q000032:analysis; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D006377:T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer / Q000378:metabolism; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000378:metabolism
D015703:Antigens, CD; D007376:Interleukin-2; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2; D015847:Interleukin-4; D007371:Interferon-gamma