| First Author | Cunningham AF | Year | 2004 |
| Journal | Eur J Immunol | Volume | 34 |
| Issue | 3 | Pages | 686-694 |
| PubMed ID | 14991598 | Mgi Jnum | J:115477 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3691756 | Doi | 10.1002/eji.200324510 |
| Citation | Cunningham AF, et al. (2004) Pinpointing IL-4-independent acquisition and IL-4-influenced maintenance of Th2 activity by CD4 T cells. Eur J Immunol 34(3):686-94 |
| abstractText | Naive CD4 T cells develop Th2 activity early in primary responses to alum-precipitated proteins by producing IL-4 mRNA and inducing B cells to produce gamma1 and epsilon switch transcripts. Both IL-4-dependent and IL-4-independent pathways for IL-4 induction are recognized, but their relative contribution to the different phases of primary Th2 responses in vivo is uncertain. We show the primary induction of IL-4 synthesis in lymph nodes responding to alum-precipitated protein is overwhelmingly in antigen-specific CD4 T cells and is unimpaired in IL-4Ralpha(-/-) mice, which can produce but do not respond to IL-4 and IL-13. Ig class-switching in extra-follicular responses, reflecting Th2 activity, is also unimpaired in these mice. By contrast, 7 days after immunization--when T cells are selecting B cells in germinal centers and T cell priming has occurred--non-responsiveness to IL-4 is associated with smaller germinal centers, increased levels of T-bet and gamma2a switch transcripts and reduced gamma1 and epsilon transcripts. These data indicate that Th2 characteristics acquired during T cell priming and the initial CD4 T cell interaction with B cells are largely IL-4-independent, whereas IL-4 production induced during priming has a significant role in maintaining the Th2 phenotype as T cells select B cells in germinal centers. |
