title: Impaired cytosolic free calcium response in splenic T-cells from mice fed with ethanol-containing diet.
abstract: Calcium-dependent signal transduction pathways of T-cell proliferation have been extensively studied in the past years. However, little is known about effects of ethanol on the calcium-dependent signal transduction pathway in T-cell proliferation. Thus, a murine model was used to determine effects of ethanol in vivo on T-cell proliferation and the intracellular free calcium concentration [Ca2+]i in response to Concanavalin A (Con A) and recombinant IL2 (rIL2) in T-cells. Splenic cells from young C57BL/6 mice, that had been fed on 3 different diets (ethanol-, maltose substitute- and standard liquid-diet) for 7-8 weeks were tested for their proliferative responses to Con A and rIL2. Concurrently, measurement was also made of [Ca2+]i in the nylon-wool-enriched resting T-cells induced by Con A and in Con-A-activated blast T-cells induced by rIL2. Our results showed that [Ca2+]i increases were seen in the splenic T-cells from three different groups of mice following Con A, but not rIL2 stimulation. However, this increase was much smaller in the splenic T-cells from ethanol-fed mice as compared to mice on maltose- or standard-diet. Furthermore, we also demonstrated that the impaired [Ca2+]i increase was seen in the T-cells of the same ethanol-fed mice having decreased the proliferative response to Con A. This reduced proliferation did not result from the presence of excessive suppressor T-cell activity. Finally, we also demonstrated that both the number of IL2 binding sites/cell and the Kd values of the low- and high-affinity IL2R on the T-cells from ethanol-fed mice were unaltered. Because evidence indicates that (1) a normal level of [Ca2+]i increase is a prerequisite for the production of IL2 by mitogen-stimulated T-cells, and (2) T-cells from ethanol-fed mice have normal capacities to produce IL2 that is the crucial growth factor controlling T-cells to progress through the cell cycle, these lines of evidence taken together with the results of this study suggest that the impairment in [Ca2+]i increases in T-cells from ethanol-fed mice may not be the primary factor contributing to the diminished T-cell proliferation in the same mice.
authors.affiliation: Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center (GRECO), VA Medical Center, West Los Angeles.
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: D T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yeh
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Norman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D003208:Concanavalin A / Q000494:pharmacology; D003600:Cytosol / Q000378:metabolism; D000431:Ethanol / Q000633:toxicity*; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000494:pharmacology; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2 / Q000032:analysis / Q000187:drug effects; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D007376:Interleukin-2; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D003208:Concanavalin A; D000431:Ethanol; D002118:Calcium