High affinity interleukin 2 receptors in HTLV-1-infected T cells can mediate signals for gene expression

The expression of transcripts of the c-myb and c-myc protooncogenes and the interleukin 2 receptor (IL-2R) gene in human T cells infected with human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) after exposure to interleukin 2 (IL-2) were examined. Infection with HTLV-1 is known to be associated with constitutive expression of IL-2R, although infected cells do not require IL-2 for growth. Northern blot analysis showed that expression of the mRNAs of the c-myb, c-myc, and IL-2R genes were markedly increased by addition of IL-2 into the cultures, indicating that IL-2R transduced signals for gene expression in these cells as in normal T cells. Studies on distinct HTLV-1-infected T cell clones that differed in numbers of high-affinity IL-2R, showed that the extents of increase in mRNA expression by IL-2 were correlated with the number of high-affinity IL-2R. This correlation was confirmed by demonstration that the levels of mRNA expression were proportional to the numbers of IL-2-bound high-affinity but not low-affinity receptors. Thus, the signals induced by IL-2 for gene expression may be through high-affinity IL-2R.