CD8+ T cells can be primed in vitro to produce IL-4
Seder, R.A.; Boulay, J.L.; Finkelman, F.; Barbier, S.; Ben-Sasson, S.Z.; Le Gros, G.; Paul, W.E.
Journal of Immunology 148(6): 1652-1656
1992
ISSN/ISBN: 0022-1767 PMID: 1347305 Document Number: 389946
IL-4 production by T lymphocytes from naive mice in response to stimulation by plate-bound anti-CD3 is concentrated among CD4+ T cells. In vitro stimulation of lymph node T cells with anti-CD3 plus IL-2 and IL-4 strikingly increases the frequency of cells that produce IL-4 in response to subsequent stimulation with anti-CD3 plus IL-2. Separation of these primed cell populations into CD4+ and CD8+ T cell by cell sorting reveals that the frequency of IL-4-producing cells in both population is similar. Verification that CD8+ T cells produce IL-4 is provided by the capacity of anti-IL-4 mAb to inhibit the response of the indicator cell line to the growth factor produced by the primed cells and by detection of IL-4 by an IL-4-specific ELISA. The in vitro "priming" of CD8+ T cells to produce IL-4 is not dependent on the presence of CD4+ T cells because highly purified CD8+ T cells can be stimulated to develop into cells capable of producing IL-4 by culture with plate-bound anti-CD3 plus IL-2 and IL-4.