Interleukin-12 (IL-12) is a cytokine that promotes cell-mediated immunity to intracellular pathogens by inducing type 1 helper T cell (TH1) responses and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) production. IL-12 binds to high-affinity beta1/beta2 heterodimeric IL-12 receptor (IL-12R) complexes on T cell and natural killer cells. Three unrelated individuals with severe, idiopathic mycobacterial and Salmonella infections were found to lack IL-12Rbeta1 chain expression. Their cells were deficient in IL-12R signaling and IFN-gamma production, and their remaining T cell responses were independent of endogenous IL-12. IL-12Rbeta1 sequence analysis revealed genetic mutations that resulted in premature stop codons in the extracellular domain. The lack of IL-12Rbeta1 expression results in a human immunodeficiency and shows the essential role of IL-12 in resistance to infections due to intracellular bacteria.
Type 2 cytokines are thought to have a protective role in psoriasis vulgaris by dampening the activity of T helper 1 (Th1) lymphocytes. The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of monomethylfumarate (MMF), the most active metabolite of the new anti-psoriatic drug Fumaderm, on the production of cytokines and the development of Th subsets. MMF was found to enhance interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-5 production by CD2/CD8 monoclonal antibody-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in a dose-dependent manner. Maximal effects of MMF were found at a concentration of 200 microM and resulted in tenfold enhanced levels of IL-4 and IL-5 production. MMF did not affect the levels of IL-2 production, interferon (IFN)-gamma production or proliferative T cell responses in these cultures. Similar effects of MMF were observed in cultures of purified peripheral blood T cells indicating that this compound can act directly on T cells. MMF did not influence cytokine production by purified CD4+CD45RA+ (unprimed) T cells, but greatly enhanced IL-4 and IL-5 production without affecting IFN-gamma production by purified CD4+CD45RO+ (primed) T cells. Furthermore, MMF also augmented IL-4 and IL-5 production in established Th1/Th0 clones that were stimulated with CD2/CD28 monoclonal antibody. Finally, when PBMC were challenged with Mycobacterium tuberculosis that typically induces Th1 recall responses with strong IFN-gamma secretion, MMF again appeared to induce high levels of IL-4 and IL-5 secretion while IFN-gamma production was unaffected. These results may be relevant for the development of therapeutic regimens designed to correct inappropriate Th1 subset development in immunopathologic conditions.
To characterize cis‐acting elements controlling the expression of T cell receptor beta‐chains we generated a number of transgenic mouse lines harboring a rearranged T cell receptor beta‐chain with different extensions of 5′ and 3′ flanking sequences. Transcriptional analysis of transgenic mice carrying these clones showed that sequences located downstream of the polyadenylation signal of the C beta 2 region are indispensable for expression in transgenic mice. The sequences conferring enhancer activity in this fragment were further defined by transient CAT assays. Strong enhancer activity was found to reside in a 550 bp fragment located 5 kb downstream from C beta 2. The nucleotide sequence of this fragment revealed a number of oligonucleotide motifs characteristic for enhancer elements.
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