Mitogen plus interleukin 4 induction of C epsilon transcripts in B lymphoid cells.

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
To elucidate the mechanism of IL-4-induced enhancement of IgE and IgG1 production, murine splenic B cells and A-MuLV-transformed cells were cultured with LPS and IL-4 and assayed for .epsilon. and .gamma.1 transcripts. Concomitant treatment with IL-4 and LPS induced expression of C.epsilon. transcripts in both normal and transformed cells. Expression of these truncated C.epsilon. transcripts preceded accumulation of normal .epsilon. mRNA in treated cells. Consistent data were obtained with respect to .gamma.1 RNA expression. These results suggest that IL-4 can direct class switching in the context of a mechanism associated with differential expression of germline constant region genes.