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Constitutive Cytokine mRNAs Mark Natural Killer (NK) and NK T Cells Poised for Rapid Effector Function

Natural killer (NK) and NK T cells are tissue lymphocytes that secrete cytokines rapidly upon stimulation. Here, we show that these cells maintain distinct patterns of constitutive cytokine mRNAs. Unlike conventional T cells, NK T cells activate interleukin (IL)-4 and interferon (IFN)-γ transcriptio...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Stetson, Daniel B., Mohrs, Markus, Reinhardt, R. Lee, Baron, Jody L., Wang, Zhi-En, Gapin, Laurent, Kronenberg, Mitchell, Locksley, Richard M.
Formato: Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: The Rockefeller University Press 2003
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2194220/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14530376
http://dx.doi.org/10.1084/jem.20030630
Descripción
Sumario:Natural killer (NK) and NK T cells are tissue lymphocytes that secrete cytokines rapidly upon stimulation. Here, we show that these cells maintain distinct patterns of constitutive cytokine mRNAs. Unlike conventional T cells, NK T cells activate interleukin (IL)-4 and interferon (IFN)-γ transcription during thymic development and populate the periphery with both cytokine loci previously modified by histone acetylation. Similarly, NK cells transcribe and modify the IFN-γ gene, but not IL-4, during developmental maturation in the bone marrow. Lineage-specific patterns of cytokine transcripts predate infection and suggest evolutionary selection for invariant but distinct types of effector responses among the earliest responding lymphocytes.