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Chain
By
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From the * Amgen Institute, The interleukin-2 receptor
Ontario Cancer Institute, and § Departments of Medical Biophysics and
Immunology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5G 2C1
chain (IL-2R
) is expressed on a variety of hematopoietic cell
types, including natural killer (NK) cells and nonconventional T lymphocyte subsets such as intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL). However, the importance of IL-2R
-mediated signaling in the growth and development of these cells has yet to be clearly established. We have
investigated IEL and NK cells in mice deficient for IL-2R
and describe here striking defects
in the development of these cells. IL-2R
/
mice exhibited an abnormal IEL cell population,
characterized by a dramatic reduction in T cell receptor 
CD8
and T cell receptor 
lymphocytes. This selective decrease indicates that IEL can be classified into those whose
development and/or differentiation is dependent on IL-2R
function and those for which
IL-2R
-mediated signaling is not essential. NK cell development was also found to be disrupted in IL-2R
-deficient mice, characterized by a reduction in NK1.1+CD3
cells in the
peripheral circulation and an absence of NK cytotoxic activity in vitro. The dependence of NK
cells and certain subclasses of IEL cells on IL-2R
expression points to an essential role for signaling through this receptor, presumably by IL-2 and/or IL-15, in the development of lymphocyte subsets of extrathymic origin.
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