| First Author | Chen L | Year | 2004 |
| Journal | J Immunol | Volume | 172 |
| Issue | 4 | Pages | 2059-66 |
| PubMed ID | 14764670 | Mgi Jnum | J:87994 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3028798 | Doi | 10.4049/jimmunol.172.4.2059 |
| Citation | Chen L, et al. (2004) IL-4 induces differentiation and expansion of Th2 cytokine-producing eosinophils. J Immunol 172(4):2059-66 |
| abstractText | Innate effector cells that produce Th2-type cytokines are critical in Th2 cell-mediated immune responses. However, it is not known how these cells acquire the ability to produce Th2 cytokines. IL-4 is a potent inducer that directs differentiation of naive CD4(+) T cells into CD4(+) Th2 effector cells. To determine whether IL-4 can induce differentiation and expansion of Th2 cytokine-producing innate cells, we used mice whose il-4 gene was replaced by a knock-in green fluorescence protein (gfp) gene. We found that, directly ex vivo, IL-4 increased the number of GFP(+) cells in the airway and the lung tissue in an Ag-specific manner. The majority of GFP(+) cells were eosinophils, suggesting that IL-4 plays a pivotal role in expanding IL-4-producing eosinophils in vivo. IL-4-producing eosinophils showed some unique features compared with IL-4-producing CD4(+) T cells. They exhibited biallelic expression of the il-4 gene when stimulated and were more dominant IL-4- and IL-5-producing cells. Furthermore, we show that IL-4 drove bone marrow progenitor cells to differentiate into Th2 cytokine-producing eosinophils in vitro. These results strongly suggest IL-4 is a potent factor in directing bone marrow progenitor cells to differentiate into Th2 cytokine-producing eosinophils. |
