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Interleukin 4 gene-defective mice reconstituted with wild-type bone marrow fail to produce normal immunoglobulin E levels

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Item Type:Article
Title:Interleukin 4 gene-defective mice reconstituted with wild-type bone marrow fail to produce normal immunoglobulin E levels
Creators Name:Lange, C., Schueler, T. and Blankenstein, T.
Abstract:The ability to reconstitute interleukin (IL)-4-/- mice with bone marrow of IL-4+/+ mice was investigated. The absence of the IL-4-/- gene in donor or recipient cells did not impair the reconstitution. All immunoglobulin (Ig) subsets occurred at normal serum levels except for IgE and to some extent IgG1. IgE production did not recover in the reconstituted mice over prolonged time. However, these mice were competent for IgE production, because a single intrasplenic injection of IL-4 restored IgE levels, which then remained constant. Wild-type mice reconstituted with wild-type bone marrow constantly had IgE serum levels comparable to untreated animals. In wild-type mice reconstituted with IL-4-/- bone marrow, IgE levels dropped gradually and disappeared by week 12. We make three unrelated but nonetheless important conclusions: (a) (immunoregulation) the tightly regulated IL-4 gene should be expressed constantly in low amounts (and with apparent absence of antigen stimulation) to keep the normal threshold of IgE; (b) (ontogeny of the immune system) an early unidentified source of IL-4 must be postulated which is lost in adult mice; and (c) (bone marrow transfer/gene therapy) under certain circumstances, the genotype of the recipient influences the reconstitution.
Keywords:Bone Marrow Cells, Immunoglobulin E, Immunoglobulins, Interleukin-4, Larva, Nocardia, Tissue Transplantation, Animals, Mice
Source:Journal of Experimental Medicine
ISSN:0022-1007
Publisher:Rockefeller University Press
Volume:187
Number:9
Page Range:1487-1493
Date:4 May 1998
Official Publication:http://www.jem.org/cgi/content/abstract/187/9/1487
PubMed:View item in PubMed

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