Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 10, 2026

Isolation and Th17 Differentiation of Naïve CD4 T Lymphocytes
Published on: September 26, 2013
Generalized autoimmune disease in interleukin-2-deficient mice is triggered by an uncontrolled activation and
B Sadlack1, J Löhler, H Schorle
1Institute of Virology and Immunobiology, University of Würburg, Germany.
Abstract:
Interleukin-2-deficient mice (IL-2-/-) crossed to a BALB/c genetic background develop a lymphoproliferative syndrome with severe hemolytic anemia and die within 5 weeks of age. The presence of autoantibodies of various specificities and inflammatory lesions in several organs are indicative of a generalized auto-immune disease. No alterations of the immune system were observed in 6-day-old animals, but 10-day-old mice already showed an increased proliferation and polyclonal activation of lymphocytes. The treatment of IL-2-/- mice with anti-gp39(CD40L) antibody prevented the disease and indicated that the appearance of activated CD4- T cells (CD44high, CD69-) represents the first alteration of the immune system in IL-2-/- mice. Collectively, our results suggest that an essential role of IL-2 in vivo, which is not compensated by other cytokines, is the maintenance of self tolerance.
Related Concept Videos
T Cell Activation and Clonal Selection
Naive T cells that have not yet encountered an antigen express two primary CD...
T Cell Types and Functions
Th1 cells stimulate dendritic cells to express necessary co-stimulatory molecules on their surfaces for...
B Cell Activation and Differentiation
When naive B cells encounter a specific antigen that can bind to the B cell receptor (BCR) on their surface, they undergo sensitization to respond to the antigen's presence. Sensitization begins with...
Immunodeficiency Diseases
There are three main causes of immunodeficiency disorders...
Autoimmune Disorders
Concept and Mechanism of Autoimmune Diseases
The immune system...
Inflammatory Bowel Disease III: Crohn's Disease

