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Developmental shift in the patterns of interleukin production in early post‐natal life

1994; Wiley; Volume: 24; Issue: 8 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1002/eji.1830240821

1521-4141

G C Coutinho, Sylvie Delassusu, Philippe Kourilskyu, António Bandeira, António Coutinho,

Reproductive System and Pregnancy

Abstract In mice, immunological tolerance to self is established in the perinatal period, when tolerance susceptibility to allogenic tissues is higher than in adults. We have now investigated whether this could result from developmental regulation of effector functions of T cells exposed to specific antigens, by studying the “natural” or T cell receptor‐induced expression of several interleukin genes. We used qualitative and quantitative polymerase chain reaction methods to study interleukin (IL)‐2, IL‐4, IL‐10 and interferon‐γ mRNA expression by splenic cells at different ages. The results show that newborn peripheral cells (up to day 7), in contrast to the T lymphocytes of adult mice, express high levels of IL‐4 and interferon‐γ, and very low levels of IL‐2 messenger spontaneously and upon specific T cell activation. This characteristic phenotype depends on intrinsic T cell properties, as it is not due to the newborn environment.