IL-4-responsive human helper T cell clones are resistant to growth inhibition by tumor necrosis factor-alpha

Positive and negative signals for clonal expansion of preactivated human CD4+ alloreactive Th cells have been examined. Fifteen T cell clones tested 3 days after Ag-specific stimulation proliferated with IL-2 but only five of these responded to IL-4. The remaining 10 also failed to respond to IL-4 in the presence of IL-1 and/or autologous B-LCL. The response of the latter five to IL-4 was independent of IL-2 as shown by the inability of IL-2R mAb to prevent proliferation. In contrast, transferrin R mAb blocked responses to both IL-2 and IL-4. IL-4 responder but not nonresponder clones demonstrated IL-4-enhanced responses to suboptimal concentrations of IL-2 (1 U/ml), but none of the clones showed enhanced responses with 1 U/ml IL-2 plus IL-1, IL-3, IL-5, or granulocyte-macrophage-CSF. IFN-gamma did not enhance or inhibit responses to either IL-2 or IL-4. TNF-alpha did not block proliferation supported by IL-4. In contrast, TNF-alpha did block proliferative responses to IL-2, but only by those clones which were incapable of responding to IL-4. Thus, proliferation of the IL-4-responder clones was not blocked by TNF-alpha when optimal or even supraoptimal concentrations of IL-2 were used as growth factor. Because all T cell clones themselves secreted TNF-alpha after specific stimulation, these results suggest a novel autocrine negative regulatory pathway, whereby IL-4-reactive helper cells would have a selective advantage over IL-4-nonreactive cells during the evolution of an immune response.