The Journal of Experimental Medicine
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Published online 27 September 2004 doi:10.1084/jem.20041389
Rockefeller University Press, 0022-1007 $8.00
JEM, Volume 200, Number 7, 825-834
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Coordinate Expression and Trans Presentation of Interleukin (IL)-15R{alpha} and IL-15 Supports Natural Killer Cell and Memory CD8+ T Cell Homeostasis

Patrick R. Burkett, Rima Koka, Marcia Chien, Sophia Chai, David L. Boone, and Averil Ma

Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143

Address correspondence to Averil Ma, Dept. of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Ave., S-1057, Box 451, San Francisco, CA 94143. Phone: (415) 502-9405; Fax: (415) 502-9404; email: ama1{at}itsa.ucsf.edu

The high affinity interleukin (IL)-15 receptor, IL-15R{alpha}, is essential for supporting lymphoid homeostasis. To assess whether IL-15R{alpha}'s role in vivo is to trans present IL-15, we generated mixed bone marrow chimera from IL-15R{alpha}– and IL-2/15Rß–deficient mice. We find that IL-15R{alpha}–competent, IL-2/15Rß–deficient cells are able to support IL-15R{alpha}–deficient natural killer (NK) and memory CD8+ T cells, thus ruling out secondary signals on these cells and demonstrating that IL-15R{alpha}–mediated presentation of IL-15 in trans is the primary mechanism by which IL-15R{alpha} functions in vivo. Surprisingly, using IL-15– and IL-15R{alpha}–deficient mixed chimera, we also find that IL-15 and IL-15R{alpha} must be expressed by the same cells to present IL-15 in trans, indicating that IL-15R{alpha} is required on a cellular level for the elaboration of IL-15. These studies indicate that IL-15R{alpha} defines homeostatic niches for NK and memory CD8+ T cells by controlling both the production and the presentation of IL-15 in trans to NK and CD8+ memory T cells.

Key Words: intracellular cytokine receptor • IL-15/IL-15R{alpha} preassociation • mixed chimera • IL-2Rß


P. Burkett and R. Koka contributed equally to this work.

Abbreviation used in this paper: {gamma}c, {gamma} chain.


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