| First Author | Wijesundara DK | Year | 2013 |
| Journal | PLoS One | Volume | 8 |
| Issue | 1 | Pages | e55788 |
| PubMed ID | 23383283 | Mgi Jnum | J:195778 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:5485284 | Doi | 10.1371/journal.pone.0055788 |
| Citation | Wijesundara DK, et al. (2013) Reduced interleukin-4 receptor alpha expression on CD8+ T cells correlates with higher quality anti-viral immunity. PLoS One 8(1):e55788 |
| abstractText | With the hope of understanding how interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-13 modulated quality of anti-viral CD8(+) T cells, we evaluated the expression of receptors for these cytokines following a range of viral infections (e.g. pox viruses and influenza virus). Results clearly indicated that unlike other IL-4/IL-13 receptor subunits, IL-4 receptor alpha (IL-4Ralpha) was significantly down-regulated on anti-viral CD8(+) T cells in a cognate antigen dependent manner. The infection of gene knockout mice and wild-type (WT) mice with vaccinia virus (VV) or VV expressing IL-4 confirmed that IL-4, IL-13 and signal transducer and activator of transcription 6 (STAT6) were required to increase IL-4Ralpha expression on CD8(+) T cells, but not interferon (IFN)-gamma. STAT6 dependent elevation of IL-4Ralpha expression on CD8(+) T cells was a feature of poor quality anti-viral CD8(+) T cell immunity as measured by the production of IFN-gamma and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) in response to VV antigen stimulation in vitro. We propose that down-regulation of IL-4Ralpha, but not the other IL-4/IL-13 receptor subunits, is a mechanism by which CD8(+) T cells reduce responsiveness to IL-4 and IL-13. This can improve the quality of anti-viral CD8(+) T cell immunity. Our findings have important implications in understanding anti-viral CD8(+) T cell immunity and designing effective vaccines against chronic viral infections. |
