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Interleukin-2 receptor alpha chain regulates the size and content of the peripheral lymphoid compartment

D M Willerford1, J Chen, J A Ferry

  • 1Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.

Immunity
|October 1, 1995
PubMed

Interleukin-2 receptor alpha chain (IL-2R alpha) expression occurs at specific stages of early T and B lymphocyte development and is induced upon activation of mature lymphocytes. Young mice that lack IL-2R alpha have phenotypically normal development of T and B cells. However, as adults, these mice develop massive enlargement of peripheral lymphoid organs associated with polyclonal T and B cell expansion, which, for T cells, is correlated with impaired activation-induced cell death in vivo. Older IL-2R alpha-deficient mice also develop autoimmune disorders, including hemolytic anemia and inflammatory bowel disease. Thus, IL-2R alpha is essential for regulation of both the size and content of the peripheral lymphoid compartment, probably by influencing the balance between clonal expansion and cell death following lymphocyte activation.

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