Skip to main content
The Journal of Experimental Medicine logoLink to The Journal of Experimental Medicine
. 1985 Jun 1;161(6):1593–1598. doi: 10.1084/jem.161.6.1593

Sequential expression of genes involved in human T lymphocyte growth and differentiation

PMCID: PMC2187631  PMID: 2989408

Abstract

Nuclear transcription assays were performed with isolated nuclei from human peripheral blood T lymphocytes stimulated with phytohemagglutinin and phorbol myristate acetate to determine the kinetics of transcriptional activity of various genes occurring in T cell activation. Although silent in resting T cells, the genes encoding c- myc and the interleukin 2 (IL-2) receptor were induced early, preceding gamma interferon (IFN-gamma), IL-2, and transferrin receptor gene transcription. Transcriptional activity of these genes fell after their respective peaks, indicating that the expression of these genes is a transient event during T cell activation. With the exception of the transferrin receptor gene, the kinetics of induction of these genes were not altered by concentrations of cycloheximide that inhibited protein synthesis. These data indicate that the induction of genes encoding c-myc, IL-2, IL-2 receptor, and IFN-gamma occur independently of the sequential production of the proteins they encode.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (365.9 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Battey J., Moulding C., Taub R., Murphy W., Stewart T., Potter H., Lenoir G., Leder P. The human c-myc oncogene: structural consequences of translocation into the IgH locus in Burkitt lymphoma. Cell. 1983 Oct;34(3):779–787. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(83)90534-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Efrat S., Kaempfer R. Control of biologically active interleukin 2 messenger RNA formation in induced human lymphocytes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 May;81(9):2601–2605. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.9.2601. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Efrat S., Pilo S., Kaempfer R. Kinetics of induction and molecular size of mRNAs encoding human interleukin-2 and gamma-interferon. Nature. 1982 May 20;297(5863):236–239. doi: 10.1038/297236a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Fox D. A., Hussey R. E., Fitzgerald K. A., Bensussan A., Daley J. F., Schlossman S. F., Reinherz E. L. Activation of human thymocytes via the 50KD T11 sheep erythrocyte binding protein induces the expression of interleukin 2 receptors on both T3+ and T3- populations. J Immunol. 1985 Jan;134(1):330–335. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Kasahara T., Hooks J. J., Dougherty S. F., Oppenheim J. J. Interleukin 2-mediated immune interferon (IFN-gamma) production by human T cells and T cell subsets. J Immunol. 1983 Apr;130(4):1784–1789. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Kelly K., Cochran B. H., Stiles C. D., Leder P. Cell-specific regulation of the c-myc gene by lymphocyte mitogens and platelet-derived growth factor. Cell. 1983 Dec;35(3 Pt 2):603–610. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(83)90092-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Klein J. R., Bevan M. J. Secretion of immune interferon and generation of cytotoxic T cell activity in nude mice are dependent on interleukin 2: age-associated endogenous production of interleukin 2 in nude mice. J Immunol. 1983 Apr;130(4):1780–1783. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Krönke M., Leonard W. J., Depper J. M., Arya S. K., Wong-Staal F., Gallo R. C., Waldmann T. A., Greene W. C. Cyclosporin A inhibits T-cell growth factor gene expression at the level of mRNA transcription. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 Aug;81(16):5214–5218. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.16.5214. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Leonard W. J., Depper J. M., Crabtree G. R., Rudikoff S., Pumphrey J., Robb R. J., Krönke M., Svetlik P. B., Peffer N. J., Waldmann T. A. Molecular cloning and expression of cDNAs for the human interleukin-2 receptor. Nature. 1984 Oct 18;311(5987):626–631. doi: 10.1038/311626a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Meuer S. C., Hussey R. E., Cantrell D. A., Hodgdon J. C., Schlossman S. F., Smith K. A., Reinherz E. L. Triggering of the T3-Ti antigen-receptor complex results in clonal T-cell proliferation through an interleukin 2-dependent autocrine pathway. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 Mar;81(5):1509–1513. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.5.1509. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Meuer S. C., Hussey R. E., Fabbi M., Fox D., Acuto O., Fitzgerald K. A., Hodgdon J. C., Protentis J. P., Schlossman S. F., Reinherz E. L. An alternative pathway of T-cell activation: a functional role for the 50 kd T11 sheep erythrocyte receptor protein. Cell. 1984 Apr;36(4):897–906. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(84)90039-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Morgan D. A., Ruscetti F. W., Gallo R. Selective in vitro growth of T lymphocytes from normal human bone marrows. Science. 1976 Sep 10;193(4257):1007–1008. doi: 10.1126/science.181845. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Neckers L. M., Cossman J. Transferrin receptor induction in mitogen-stimulated human T lymphocytes is required for DNA synthesis and cell division and is regulated by interleukin 2. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1983 Jun;80(11):3494–3498. doi: 10.1073/pnas.80.11.3494. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Persson H., Leder P. Nuclear localization and DNA binding properties of a protein expressed by human c-myc oncogene. Science. 1984 Aug 17;225(4663):718–721. doi: 10.1126/science.6463648. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Reem G. H., Yeh N. H. Interleukin 2 regulates expression of its receptor and synthesis of gamma interferon by human T lymphocytes. Science. 1984 Jul 27;225(4660):429–430. doi: 10.1126/science.6429853. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Robb R. J., Munck A., Smith K. A. T cell growth factor receptors. Quantitation, specificity, and biological relevance. J Exp Med. 1981 Nov 1;154(5):1455–1474. doi: 10.1084/jem.154.5.1455. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Smith K. A. T-cell growth factor. Immunol Rev. 1980;51:337–357. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-065x.1980.tb00327.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Welte K., Andreeff M., Platzer E., Holloway K., Rubin B. Y., Moore M. A., Mertelsmann R. Interleukin 2 regulates the expression of Tac antigen on peripheral blood T lymphocytes. J Exp Med. 1984 Nov 1;160(5):1390–1403. doi: 10.1084/jem.160.5.1390. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of Experimental Medicine are provided here courtesy of The Rockefeller University Press

RESOURCES