title: In vitro correction of the interleukin 2 defect of autoimmune mice.
abstract: The effect of concanavalin A (Con A) and/or phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) on interleukin 2 (IL 2) production and tritiated thymidine incorporation was measured in young (6 weeks) and old (16-24 weeks) autoimmune mice by pulsing 5 X 10(6) unfractionated spleen cells with 5 micrograms of Con A and/or 5 ng of PMA for variable periods of time. The apparent deficiency in Con A-stimulated IL 2 production manifested by mice prone to the development of autoimmune disease was repaired by the addition of PMA. PMA did not enhance interleukin 1 (IL 1) secretion in autoimmune MRL-lpr mice either alone or in combination with Con A. The addition of purified IL 1 to Con A-pulsed autoimmune cells did not increase IL 2 production. Freeze-thaw experiments suggested that PMA does not promote IL 2 synthesis. Con A-pulsed cells plus PMA-pulsed cells do not syngergize. These data indicate that autoimmune-prone mice are capable of producing IL 2 and of proliferating in response to Con A provided the comitogen PMA is present. It can be argued that the failure to produce IL 2 or to respond to proliferative signals is not fundamental to the development of the disease sustained by autoimmune-prone mice.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000235:genetics; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000235:genetics*; D003208:Concanavalin A / Q000494:pharmacology; D004261:DNA Replication / Q000187:drug effects*; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000235:genetics*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D013755:Tetradecanoylphorbol Acetate / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D007376:Interleukin-2; D003208:Concanavalin A; D013755:Tetradecanoylphorbol Acetate