Differential induction of T cell cytokine mRNA in Epstein-Barr virus-transformed B cell clones: constitutive and inducible expression of interleukin-4 mRNA.
Clones of human B lymphocytes, obtained after immortalization with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) of single CD19+ B cells and expansion in the absence of human T lymphocytes, produced mRNA for the T cell cytokines interleukin(IL)-2, IL-4, and interferon (IFN)-gamma. As detected by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, IL-2 mRNA was expressed only after stimulation with the combination of phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) plus ionomycin. IL-4 mRNA was constitutively detectable in all (10/10) EBV-transformed B cell clones, and the mRNA for IFN-gamma was constitutively present in half of the clones. In contrast to IL-2 mRNA, the expression of IL-4 and IFN-gamma mRNA could be increased by PMA alone. Most of the clones produced IL-2 bioactivity and immunoreactive protein, but neither IL-4 nor IFN-gamma protein secretion was detected. The intriguing question raised by these results is whether IL-2 secretion could contribute to the immune control of EBV-infected B lymphocytes by cytolytic T cells, and whether normal B lymphocytes can potentially be induced to express certain cytokines including IL-4 in response to the appropriate activation signals.
Department of Medicine, Hôpital Cantonal Universitaire, Genève, Switzerland.
H
H
Tang
T
T
Matthes
N
N
Carballido-Perrig
R H
RH
Zubler
V
V
Kindler
D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D001681:Biological Assay; D002472:Cell Transformation, Viral; D002999:Clone Cells; D016207:Cytokines / Q000235:genetics*; D015870:Gene Expression; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000235:genetics; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000235:genetics; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides / Q000737:chemistry; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics
D016207:Cytokines; D007376:Interleukin-2; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D015847:Interleukin-4; D007371:Interferon-gamma