Interleukin-4 regulates the interleukin-2 receptors on human peripheral blood B lymphocytes.
The high-affinity interleukin-2 (IL-2) receptor (IL-2R) consists of the non-covalent association of at least two subunits, p55 and p70-75, capable of binding IL-2 with low and intermediate affinity, respectively. We studied the effects of cytokines on the IL-2R expressed on human peripheral blood B lymphocytes using monoclonal antibodies specific for IL-2R p55 and IL-2R p70-75, by means of two-colour flow cytometric analysis. In freshly isolated peripheral blood B lymphocytes, the p55 subunit was expressed only in a small population (7.0% of CD20+ cells), whereas the p70-75 subunit was expressed in a large population (89.0% of CD20+ cells). Of the cytokines studied, interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) were involved in the regulation of IL-2R on B cells. After a 2-day incubation with IL-4, expression of IL-2R p55 was markedly induced, but expression of IL2-R p70-75 was profoundly suppressed in a dose-dependent manner. These abilities of IL-4 to promote IL-2R p55 expression and suppress IL-2R p70-75 expression were inhibited by the presence of IFN-gamma. Other cytokines, including IL-1, IL-2, IL-5, and IL-6, had little effect on the expression of these two subunits. These findings suggest that IL-4 is a cytokine modulating B cell response through the regulation of IL-2R.
Tomizawa
K
K
Department of Paediatrics, Hokkaido University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan.
Ishizaka
A
A
Kojima
K
K
Nakanishi
M
M
Sakiyama
Y
Y
Matsumoto
S
S
D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000502:physiology*; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D008970:Molecular Weight; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2 / Q000096:biosynthesis*
D016207:Cytokines; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2; D015847:Interleukin-4