PREINCUBATION OF HUMAN RESTING T CELL CLONES WITH INTERLEUKIN 10 STRONGLY ENHANCES THEIR ABILITY TO PRODUCE CYTOKINES AFTER STIMULATION

• Published in: Cytokine (Philadelphia, Pa.) Pa.), 1998-11, Vol.10 (11), p.831-840
• Main Authors: Lelievre, Eric, Sarrouilhe, Denis, Morel, Franck, Preud'Homme, Jean-Louis, Wijdenes, John, Lecron, Jean-Claude
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: apoptosis, cytokines, IL-10, T lymphocytes; Clone Cells; Cytokines - biosynthesis; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Flow Cytometry; Humans; Interleukin-10 - pharmacology; Lymphocyte Activation - drug effects; T-Lymphocytes - immunology; T-Lymphocytes - metabolism
• ISSN: 1043-4666; 1096-0023
• DOI: 10.1006/cyto.1998.0371

Interleukin 10 (IL-10) has been described as a cytokine inhibitory factor downregulating IL-2 secretion and inducing T cell anergy. The data reported in this study show that preincubation of resting T cells from the human CD4+clone SP-B21 (and clone TA-23.6) with IL-10 strongly enhances their capacity to further produce IL-2, interferon γ (IFN-γ), IL-4 and tumour necrosis factor α (TNF-α) after subsequent activation. In contrast, when IL-10 was added during the activation step, the previously reported specific inhibition of IL-2 synthesis was observed. Flow cytometric analysis of intracellular IL-2- and IL-4-producing cells revealed that preincubation with IL-10 increased the number of cytokine-producing cells, but did not affect their individual ability to produce these cytokines. We further show that IL-10 plays a dose-dependent role of viability maintenance factor. This effect relates to a direct anti-apoptotic effect of IL-10, which is likely independent of the expression of bcl-2, bcl-x and fas. Such paradoxal properties of IL-10 on T cells should be considered when aiming at using IL-10 as an immunosuppressive molecule in the treatment of diseases.