The Journal of Experimental Medicine
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© The Rockefeller University Press, 0022-1007/1997/7/325/ $5.00
The Journal of Experimental Medicine, Volume 186, Number 2, July 21, 1997 325-330

Article

Interleukin 4 (IL-4) or IL-7 Prevents the Death of Resting T Cells: Stat6 Is Probably Not Required for the Effect of IL-4

Anthony Vella*, T. Kent Teague*, James Ihle§, John Kappler*,§, and Philippa Marrack*,{ddagger},§

From the * Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Medicine, National Jewish Medical and Research Center, Denver, Colorado 80206; {ddagger} Department of Biochemistry Biophysics and Genetics and § Departments of Immunology and Medicine, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colorado 80206; and the §St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee 38105

Although much is known about the activation, proliferation, and function of CD4+ T cells, little is known about how they survive as resting T cells in animals. Resting T cells have a half-life in animals of more than a week; however, when they are removed from animals and placed in tissue culture their half-life falls to ~24 h. In this paper, we show that the survival of resting T cells in vitro is promoted by two cytokines, interleukins 4 and 7 (IL-4, IL-7). They may do this in part by maintaining levels of survival-promoting proteins such as Bcl-2 in the cells, because the levels of Bcl-2 and Bcl-Xl in resting T cells fall rapidly after the cells are isolated from animals, and are maintained by culture in IL-4. Because the IL-4 receptor is known to signal through the JAK1 and JAK3/Stat6 pathway, we tested whether Stat6 was required for IL-4– dependent T cell survival. Surprisingly, we found that IL-4 rescued T cells from apoptosis in what appeared to be a Stat6-independent manner. These results demonstrate that the survival of resting T cells is an active process that can be affected by signals delivered by cytokines and also suggest that the IL-4 receptor on resting T cells may use a novel signaling pathway to facilitate T cell viability.

Address correspondence to Philippa Marrack, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Medicine, National Jewish Medical and Research Center, 1400 Jackon St., Denver, Colorado 80206. Phone: 303-398-1322; FAX: 303-398-1396; E-mail: p.marrack{at}ispop.njc.org

1 Abbreviation used in this paper: PI, propidium iodide.


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