Interleukin-2 enhances the viability of primary cultured rat neocortical neurons.
We determined the neurotrophic activity of interleukin-2 (IL-2) on primary cultured neocortical neurons from embryonic rat brain. IL-2 clearly enhanced the viability of cultured neurons in a dose-dependent manner. The neurotrophic effect of IL-2 was completely neutralized by IL-2 antibody. Furthermore, expression of IL-2 receptor mRNA was more pronounced in neurons than in other cultured cells such as astroglia and microglia. These results strongly suggest that IL-2 plays certain roles in the central nervous system as a neurotrophic factor.
Shimojo
M
M
Department of Neurochemistry, National Institute of Neuroscience, Tokyo, Japan.
Imai
Y
Y
Nakajima
K
K
Mizushima
S
S
Uemura
A
A
Kohsaka
S
S
D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects*; D009500:Neutralization Tests; D011247:Pregnancy; D012313:RNA / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats
D007376:Interleukin-2; D012313:RNA