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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...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
The Rockefeller University Press
2003
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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 |
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. |
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