| First Author | Stetson DB | Year | 2003 |
| Journal | J Exp Med | Volume | 198 |
| Issue | 7 | Pages | 1069-76 |
| PubMed ID | 14530376 | Mgi Jnum | J:113265 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3665243 | Doi | 10.1084/jem.20030630 |
| Citation | Stetson DB, et al. (2003) Constitutive cytokine mRNAs mark natural killer (NK) and NK T cells poised for rapid effector function. J Exp Med 198(7):1069-76 |
| abstractText | Natural killer (NK) and NK T cells are tissue lymphocytes that secrete cytokines rapidly upon stimulation. Here, we show that these cells maintain distinct patterns of constitutive cytokine mRNAs. Unlike conventional T cells, NK T cells activate interleukin (IL)-4 and interferon (IFN)-gamma transcription during thymic development and populate the periphery with both cytokine loci previously modified by histone acetylation. Similarly, NK cells transcribe and modify the IFN-gamma gene, but not IL-4, during developmental maturation in the bone marrow. Lineage-specific patterns of cytokine transcripts predate infection and suggest evolutionary selection for invariant but distinct types of effector responses among the earliest responding lymphocytes. |
