IgE Secretion by Epstein-Barr Virus-Infected Purified Human B Lymphocytes is Stimulated by Interleukin 4 and Suppressed by Interferon γ

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 1989-07, Vol.86 (14), p.5580-5584
• Main Authors: Thyphronitis, George, Tsokos, George C., June, Carl H., Levine, Alan D., Finkelman, Fred D.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analysis of the immune response. Humoral and cellular immunity; Antibodies; Antibody production; B lymphocytes; B-Lymphocytes - drug effects; B-Lymphocytes - immunology; Biological and medical sciences; Blood; Cell lines; Cell Transformation, Viral; Cells, Cultured; Cultured cells; Cytokines; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Fundamental immunology; Herpesvirus 4, Human - genetics; Humans; Immunobiology; Immunoglobulin E - biosynthesis; Interferon-gamma - pharmacology; Interleukin-2 - pharmacology; Interleukin-3 - pharmacology; Interleukin-4; Interleukins; Interleukins - pharmacology; Isotypes; Kinetics; Lymphocyte Activation - drug effects; Recombinant Proteins - pharmacology; Secretion; T lymphocytes; T-Lymphocytes - drug effects; T-Lymphocytes - immunology
• ISSN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.86.14.5580

The cytokine interleukin 4 (IL-4) has been shown to induce lipopolysaccharide-activated murine B cells to differentiate into IgE-secreting cells and to stimulate IgE secretion by cultured human peripheral blood lymphoid cells. It is unclear, however, whether this effect of IL-4 on human peripheral blood lymphoid cells is a direct effect on the B cell because IL-4 can stimulate T cells and monocytes as well as B cells and does not induce purified human B cells to secrete immunoglobulin. To investigate this issue we studied the ability of IL-4 to induce IgE secretion by purified human B cells (93-96% CD20+,