IL-2 and IL-7 determine the homeostatic balance between the regulatory and conventional CD4+ T cell compartments during peripheral T cell reconstitution

J Immunol. 2012 Oct 1;189(7):3339-46. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.1103152. Epub 2012 Aug 29.

Abstract

Work over the last decades has led to the identification of the factors that influence the survival and homeostasis of conventional T cells. IL-7 and TCR signaling promote the survival of naive CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells in lymphoreplete mice and their proliferation in a lymphopenic environment, whereas survival and homeostatic proliferation of memory CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells crucially depend on a combination of IL-7 and IL-15. In contrast, there is little information regarding the factors driving the proliferation of regulatory CD4(+) T cells in response to lymphopenia. In this study, we investigated whether regulatory CD4(+) T cell proliferation in response to lymphopenia was guided by classical homeostatic resources, such as IL-2, IL-7, or TCR-MHC interactions. Altogether, our data suggest that, although homeostatic proliferation of conventional naive CD4(+) T cells is closely related to IL-7 levels, the proliferation of regulatory CD4(+) T cells in response to lymphopenia appears to be primarily controlled by IL-2. The capacity of IL-7 to augment conventional T cell proliferation with minimal concomitant regulatory T cell expansion may be clinically exploitable in the treatment of patients with lymphopenia, especially in the case of chronic viral diseases or cancer immunotherapy.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / immunology*
  • CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / pathology
  • CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / transplantation
  • Cell Compartmentation / genetics
  • Cell Compartmentation / immunology*
  • Cell Cycle / genetics
  • Cell Cycle / immunology
  • Cell Proliferation
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Genes, Reporter
  • Homeostasis / genetics
  • Homeostasis / immunology*
  • Interleukin-2 / physiology*
  • Interleukin-7 / physiology*
  • Lymphopenia / genetics
  • Lymphopenia / immunology
  • Lymphopenia / pathology
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Mice, Knockout
  • Mice, Transgenic
  • T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / cytology
  • T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / immunology
  • T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / metabolism

Substances

  • Interleukin-2
  • Interleukin-7