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Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Departments of Medicine and Microbiology/Immunology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 93143
| Abstract |
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| Introduction |
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Analysis of the IL-4 gene revealed both monoallelic and biallelic expression among stable, IL-4-expressing, Th2 cells (3, 9). Activation of one or both alleles was suggested to reflect the degree and/or duration of stimulation through the TCR (9), but raised the possibility that monoallelic expression might constitute a common mechanism of expression at cytokine loci serving to enhance effector cell diversity. The IL-4 gene lies in an area of 140 kb with the IL-13 and IL-5 genes, cytokines expressed, like IL-4, in Th2 lymphocytes (10). We analyzed the expression patterns of these linked genes in a panel of IL-4-expressing clones that contained allelic differences at these various loci and compared expression with an additional cytokine, IL-3, which resides almost 500 kb telomeric on the same chromosome in close association with GM-CSF.
| Materials and Methods |
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Alloreactive (anti-H-2b) CD4+ IL-4-expressing clones were generated from (BALB/c x CAST/Ei) F1 mice in three separate experiments as previously described (3). Clones were established by single-cell flow cytometry or by limiting dilution. Individual clones were activated for 17 h by culture on plates coated with anti-TCRß (H57-597, 10 µg/ml) and anti-CD28 (37N51.1, 10 µg/ml) mAbs before harvesting RNA using RNAzol B (Biotecx, Houston, TX) and preparation of cDNA using Advantage RT-for PCR (Clontech, Palo Alto, CA).
Cytokine expression analysis
Primers for PCR amplification were selected to span introns and
to contain an internal polymorphism between the parental BALB/c and
CAST/Ei alleles for each cytokine (Table I
). Analysis of a
constitutively expressed gene, hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase,
was included to monitor the general abundance of cellular mRNAs in the
samples. Amplification conditions (GeneAmp PCR System 9700 Cycler,
ABI/PE Biosystems, Foster City, CA) were as follows: for IL-4: 94°C
for 5 min; 45 cycles of 94°C for 40 s, 62°C for 40 s,
72°C for 1 min; 72°C for 7 min; and for IL-13, IL-5, IL-3, RAD50,
and hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase: 94°C for 5 min; 45 cycles
of 94°C for 15 s, 55°C for 15 s, 72°C for 40 s;
72°C for 5 min. PCR-amplified cDNAs were visualized on 12% agarose
gels and purified using a Qiaex II gel extraction kit (Qiagen, Hilden,
Germany) as directed. Dye terminator sequencing was performed in bulk
on the purified cDNAs using a PE Biosystems ABI Prism 377 DNA Sequencer
(ABI/PE Biosystems) using the sequencing primers in Table I
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Probability of variance was calculated using Fishers exact test.
| Results |
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A total of 23 clones with stable IL-4 expression were analyzed for
the presence of mRNAs for IL-13, IL-5, and IL-3 (Fig. 1
). Within the limits of the PCR-based
assay, the most common cytokine patterns were IL-4 alone (nine clones)
or all four cytokines (seven clones). IL-4 and IL-13, sequential genes
separated by
13 kb, were coexpressed in 10 clones. IL-5, separated
from the IL-4/IL-13 genes by the RAD50 gene over a distance of
120
kb, was not expressed independently with IL-4 in any clone, but was
coexpressed with IL-4 and the intervening IL-13 gene in seven clones.
Thus, substantial heterogeneity occurs among Th2 clones, even when
established from the same culture.
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Because the clones were derived from F1 (BALB/c x CAST/Ei) mice, individual cytokine cDNAs were sequenced from the two parental strains to identify polymorphisms that would allow assignment of the parental alleles as previously described (11). Artificial templating with varying ratios of the parental cDNAs established that this technique could reliably detect either allele at a minimum of 4:1 excess (B. Kelly, unpublished observations; data not shown).
Among the 23 clones, 14 (61%) expressed IL-4 from both alleles; the
remainder were monoallelic from either the BALB/c (six clones) or
CAST/Ei alleles (three clones). Monoallelic and biallelic expressions
were observed for each of the cytokines examined, suggesting a general
mechanism of gene expression applicable to each of these loci (Fig. 2
). No clones that expressed solely the
CAST/Ei IL-5 allele were detected among the 8 IL-5-expressing clones,
although this might reflect the small number of cells analyzed. Each of
the potential expression patterns, BALB/c allele, CAST/Ei allele, and
both alleles, was otherwise represented for the other cytokines. The
predilection for expressing the BALB/c allele among monoallelic clones
seen for each of the proximal cytokine cluster genes did not extend to
IL-3, where the CAST/Ei allele was more frequently recovered.
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Fourteen of the 23 clones expressed cytokines in addition to IL-4
and could be analyzed for allelic concordance among IL genes (Fig. 3
). Twelve of the 14 could be sampled
repeatedly to assess the stability of allelic expression patterns using
this method. For the four genes/eight alleles sampled, only 2 of 128
(1.6%) gave discordant results (i.e., BALB/c vs CAST/Ei) during
repetitive sampling (B. Kelly, unpublished observations). All recovered
PCR products were scored positive for the subsequent analysis.
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| Discussion |
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Prior studies using labeled mRNA probes, intracellular cytokine detection, and PCR-based strategies comparable to those used here have demonstrated heterogeneity in cytokine expression among CD4+ and CD8+ T cell clones, even when generated from the same cultures (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21). Analysis of the IL-4/IL-13/IL-5 cluster in Th2 clones has not been systematically assessed, however. The coexpression of IL-4, IL-13, and IL-5 in conditions associated with the appearance of Th2 cells suggests coregulation of these cytokines, consistent with their clustered position over 140 kb of orthologous DNA in both human and mouse (10). Of 23 IL-4-expressing clones analyzed here, 10 coexpressed IL-13 and eight coexpressed IL-5. Coexpression of these cytokines correlates with the appearance of DNase hypersensitivity sites that appear in this region under the appropriate Th2-inducing conditions (4, 6). Indeed, recent studies have identified a highly conserved region at a DNase hypersensitivity site between the IL-4 and IL-13 genes that effects the regulation of each of the three cytokine genes in this cluster (22).
Studies of IL-2- and IL-4-expressing CD4+ T cells have documented stable expression from either or both the maternal or paternal cytokine alleles (3, 8, 12, 13). Indeed, as assessed here using clones from F1 mice bearing allele-specific markers for each of the cytokines, expression of three additional cytokines, IL-13, IL-5, and IL-3, occurred from either allele. Thus, independent expression of the cytokine alleles is common in T cell clones. If chromatin remodeling is linked to expression of these genes, expression from the type 2 cytokine cluster would presumably occur in cis from the same allele. We compared allelic expression concordance for the IL-4, IL-13, and IL-5 genes, which sit in the proximal cytokine cluster, with expression of the IL-3 gene, which is clustered in close association with the GM-CSF gene over 460 kb telomeric to IL-5. Indeed, if IL-13 or IL-5 was expressed, the likelihood that IL-4 was expressed upstream from the same allele was 81%. Conversely, expression of IL-3 was associated with expression of either IL-5 or IL-4 from the same upstream allele in 50% of cases, a finding no different from randomness. The data are consistent with coordinate regulation of the proximal cytokine cluster on chromosome 11 (5q in human) that does not extend to the more distal IL-3/GM-CSF locus despite the sharing of a common signaling receptor chain by IL-5, GM-CSF, and IL-3 (23). Regions that coordinately regulate the distal cytokine locus have been identified using DNase hypersensitivity and footprinting analyses, suggesting independent regulation of the IL-3/GM-CSF cluster in T cells (24, 25). As with the IL-4, IL-13, and IL-5 genes, T cell clones can express IL-3 and GM/CSF either together or independently (18), reflecting aspects unique to their regulation despite the localization of these two genes within 10 kb (24, 25, 26, 27).
Although concordance among the more proximal cytokine loci was frequent, it was not absolute. In four clones that could be sampled at least three times, expression of IL-13 was discordant from either upstream IL-4 or downstream IL-5 genes. IL-4 and IL-13 are adjacent, but IL-13 and IL-5 are separated by a single large gene, the DNA repair enzyme, RAD50. Prior analysis using Northern blots suggested that RAD50 was expressed at lesser amounts in Th1 clones, which do not express any of the Th2 cytokines, than in Th2 clones, consistent with an effect of expression of the cytokines on the adjacent RAD50 gene (6). Two of our discordant clones had sufficient material to allow analysis of the RAD50 gene three or more times. In both clones, RAD50 was expressed biallelically, suggesting that transcription at the RAD50 locus might influence expression of the adjacent IL-13 or IL-5 genes. Deletion of the RAD50 gene is lethal in mice (28), but further study will be required to determine whether its expression is required for lymphocyte viability.
Although these data are consistent with allele-specific regulation of the Th2 cytokine cluster, several caveats are noteworthy. First, PCR-based strategies rely on sufficient material to amplify the target. The cytokine genes typically encode messages of low abundance in T cells, perhaps reflecting the rapid degradation established by sequences within the 3'-untranslated regions of the RNAs (29, 30). We did not consistently achieve a signal in all replicate assays, raising questions about whether negative results absolutely reflected failure to express a gene. Among the 14 clones analyzed most extensively, however, concordance was high in repeated experiments, although we recognize the relatively small numbers of cells used for study. Additionally, we analyzed a single time point after T cell activation, leaving open the possibility that expression patterns might vary at different times after stimulation. Second, artificial dilution experiments confirmed that this approach could reliably establish a 4:1 ratio of expression between either of the two alleles; more discordant ratios of expression could not always be discerned. Third, these studies do not discard the possibility that a given allele was expressed but subsequently silenced during propagation. Finally, the clones were selected based on expression of IL-4. It remains unknown whether analysis of clones selected for the expression of IL-13 or IL-5 would give comparable results, nor is it clear whether this analysis of alloreactive clones can be extended to clones established through alternative methods of stimulation. It should be emphasized, however, that these studies were conducted examining the endogenous wild-type alleles. Similar results obtained from cells containing gene-targeted alleles support these findings (9, 12, 13) and suggest that allele-specific regulation is a common expression strategy for cytokine genes. The finding that the cytokine modules are regulated in independent, but coordinate, fashion at the IL-4, IL-13, IL-5, IL-3, and GM-CSF clusters suggests that identification of molecules that establish such coordinate expression may be important targets for modifying patterns of effector function.
| Acknowledgments |
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| Footnotes |
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2 Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Richard M. Locksley, University of California, Box 0654, C-443, 521 Parnassus Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94143-0654. ![]()
Received for publication February 29, 2000. Accepted for publication June 23, 2000.
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interferon, and interleukins 3 and 4 is random in murine alloreactive T-lymphocyte clones. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 85:9189.
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