title: Recombinant guinea pig TNF-alpha enhances antigen-specific type 1 T lymphocyte activation in guinea pig splenocytes.
abstract: TNF-alpha is a principal pro-inflammatory cytokine which contributes to the activation of innate immunity and the transition to antigen-specific adaptive immunity in tuberculosis. Using recombinant guinea pig (rgp) TNF-alpha, the effect of TNF-alpha on lymphocyte activation was examined in unvaccinated and BCG-vaccinated guinea pigs. Splenocytes were stimulated with PPD or ConA, in the presence or absence of rgp TNF-alpha for 96 h. Lymphocyte proliferation was measured using [(3)H]thymidine uptake, and IL-12 p40 and IFN-gamma mRNA were analyzed using real-time PCR. rgpTNF-alpha alone was able to stimulate a significant degree of proliferation in splenocytes. The addition of rgpTNF-alpha to PPD-stimulated cells enhanced the proliferation of splenocytes from BCG-vaccinated guinea pigs. Furthermore, enhancement of proliferation by rgpTNF-alpha was found to be correlated with upregulation of the levels of Type 1 cytokine mRNA (IL-12p40 and IFN-gamma) in splenocyte cultures. This suggests that TNF-alpha plays an important role in the regulation of Type 1 T cell-mediated immune responses in the guinea pig.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, The Texas A&M University System Health Science Center, 407 Reynolds Medical Building, College Station, TX 77843-1114, USA. HScho@medicine.tamu.edu
authors.forename: Hyosun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: David N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: McMurray
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001500:BCG Vaccine / Q000276:immunology; D002455:Cell Division / Q000276:immunology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003208:Concanavalin A / Q000276:immunology; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte / Q000276:immunology; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000276:immunology; D053762:Interleukin-12 Subunit p40 / Q000276:immunology; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology*; D014373:Tuberculin / Q000276:immunology; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D001500:BCG Vaccine; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte; D053762:Interleukin-12 Subunit p40; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D014373:Tuberculin; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D003208:Concanavalin A; D007371:Interferon-gamma