| First Author | Tepper RI | Year | 1990 |
| Journal | Cell | Volume | 62 |
| Issue | 3 | Pages | 457-67 |
| PubMed ID | 2116236 | Mgi Jnum | J:125550 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3759073 | Doi | 10.1016/0092-8674(90)90011-3 |
| Citation | Tepper RI, et al. (1990) IL-4 induces allergic-like inflammatory disease and alters T cell development in transgenic mice. Cell 62(3):457-67 |
| abstractText | We have assessed the biologic role of IL-4 by fusing its gene to an immunoglobulin promoter/enhancer and introducing it into transgenic mice. By attenuating the transgene promoter through the insertion of E. coli lac operator sequences, we have created a series of animals that constitutively express varying amounts of IL-4. Overexpression of IL-4 results in a marked increase in serum IgE levels and the appearance of an inflammatory ocular lesion (blepharitis) with characteristic histopathologic features seen in allergic reactions. In addition, expression of the IL-4 transgene in the thymus perturbs T cell maturation, reducing the population of immature CD4+CD8+ thymocytes and peripheral T cells while increasing the population of mature CD8+ thymocytes. These results demonstrate that deregulation of a single cytokine gene in vivo can induce a complex inflammatory reaction resembling that observed in human allergic disease. |
