The Journal of Immunology, Vol 145, Issue 4 1066-1073, Copyright © 1990 by American Association of Immunologists

ARTICLES

Inhibitory effect of murine recombinant IL-4 on thymocyte development in fetal thymus organ cultures

J Plum, M De Smedt, G Leclercq and B Tison
Department of Bacteriology, Virology and Immunology, University Hospital Gent, Belgium.

The effect of rIL-4 on early T cell development in fetal thymus organ culture was studied by two-color immunofluorescence and by proliferation assays. Addition of IL-4 to an organ culture of 14-day- old fetal BALB/c thymus resulted in a decreased cell yield (less than 15% as compared to the control culture) and in a complete inhibition of CD4+CD8+ thymocytes after 12 days of culture. This IL-4 effect was time dependent as shorter times (less than 6 days) resulted in a thymic development comparable to the untreated control. When thymuses at later stages of gestation were treated with IL-4, the inhibition was less pronounced. The inhibitory activity of IL-4 was abrogated by the anti- IL-4 mAb 11B11, ruling out the possibility of a contaminant. Organ cultured 14-day-old fetal thymocytes treated with IL-4 during 12 days responded vigorously to IL-2 alone and to IL-4 + PMA + ionomycin. Taken together, these results indicate that IL-4 affects the intrathymic T cell development at an early stage.

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