Coordinate regulation of immune and inflammatory responses by T cell-derived lymphokines

In response to antigenic stimulation, helper T cells secrete a set of protein mediators called lymphokines that regulate proliferation, differentiation, and maturation of lymphocytes and hemopoietic cells. Because all known lymphokines are composed of a single polypeptide chain, their coding sequences can be isolated by functional expression in appropriate host cells. Based on this expression cloning protocol, a number of T cell lymphokine genes have been isolated, their primary structure has been determined, and biological properties of their recombinant products have been examined. These studies revealed the existence of a regulatory network between lymphoid cells and hemopoietic cells mediated by the actions of multiple pleiotropic lymphokines produced by activated T cells. Because all or a part of this network can be activated in different ways by unique combinations of lymphokines, it is clear that T cells can play a vital role in coordinating the function of different body compartments in the immune and inflammatory responses. The activation of lymphokine genes in T cells by antigen is rapid and temporal. Therefore, an inflammatory response that involves proliferation and maturation of target cells may be restricted to the site of lymphokine production. This inducible hemopoiesis appears to be differentially regulated from the steady state or constitutive hemopoiesis that occurs in the bone marrow microenvironment in the absence of immunological stimuli.