title: Interleukin-15 gene expression in human astrocytes and microglia in culture.
abstract: Interleukin-15 (IL-15) is a novel cytokine that has recently been cloned and expressed. IL-15 interacts with components of the IL-2 receptor and exhibits T-cell stimulating activity similar to that of IL-2. In the present study, we investigated the expression of IL-15 in enriched cultures of human fetal astrocytes and microglia using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunodetection analysis. Low levels of IL-15 were expressed by unstimulated human fetal astrocytes and microglia, and treatment of astrocytes with interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta), interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), or tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) increased the expression of IL-15 at both the mRNA and protein level. Treatment of microglia with IFN-gamma and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) similarly increased IL-15 expression in microglia. These findings suggest that IL-15 produced by human fetal astrocytes and microglia may have a role in T cell-mediated immune responses in the human CNS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Vancouver Hospital, B.C., Canada.
authors.forename: Y B
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Satoh
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.forename: S U
authors.initials: SU
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D001253:Astrocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D019409:Interleukin-15 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D017628:Microglia / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis
chemical_list: D019409:Interleukin-15; D012333:RNA, Messenger