title: Interplay between IL-2 and IL-4 in human thymocyte differentiation: antagonism or agonism.
abstract: The effect of recombinant interleukin 2 (IL-2) and IL-4, as well as a combination of both lymphokines on human post-natal thymocytes at different maturation stages, was analyzed by culturing highly purified pro-T cells, pre-T cells, double-negative and double-positive thymocyte subsets in the presence of IL-2 and/or IL-4. Both IL-2 and IL-4 responsiveness are developmentally regulated in human thymocytes, since IL-2 and IL-4 responses decline with increasing thymocyte differentiation, double-positive T cells displaying far less proliferation than immature thymocytes. IL-2 and IL-4 may influence pro-T cell growth in both an antagonistic and additive fashion. At low doses, IL-4 inhibits IL-2-supported growth of pro-T cells, whereas, at higher concentrations, this inhibitory effect is masked by the ability of IL-4 to stimulate pro-T cell proliferation. In contrast to peripheral lymphocytes, IL-4 does not down-regulate the expression of the IL-2 receptor light chain on thymocytes. In pro-T cell cultures, IL-2 and IL-4 favour the differentiation of distinct cell populations, namely lymphocytes displaying preferentially a TCR alpha/beta+ and CD4+CD8- phenotype versus predominantly TCR gamma/delta+ and CD4-CD8+ cells, respectively. The effect of IL-2 dominates over that of IL-4, since the composition of cultures set up in the presence of IL-2 plus IL-4 resembles that of cells cultured with IL-2 alone. In synthesis, IL-2 and IL-4 exhibit reciprocal inter-relations in human thymocyte cultures, thus supporting the notion that these lymphokines are implicated in the complex regulation of a local cytokine network.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Biología Molecular (CSIC), Universidad Autónoma, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bárcena
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Toribio
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Gutierrez-Ramos
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kroemer
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Martínez
mesh_terms: D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000096:biosynthesis; D000945:Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte / Q000096:biosynthesis; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004347:Drug Interactions; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000096:biosynthesis; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects*; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000166:cytology*
chemical_list: D015703:Antigens, CD; D000945:Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte; D007376:Interleukin-2; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D015847:Interleukin-4