Immune Netw.  2018 Feb;18(1):e13. 10.4110/in.2018.18.e13.

Out-sourcing for Trans-presentation: Assessing T Cell Intrinsic and Extrinsic IL-15 Expression with Il15 Gene Reporter Mice

• Park JY
• Ligons DL
• Park JH

• KMID: 2404895
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4110/in.2018.18.e13

Abstract

IL-15 is a cytokine of the common γ-chain family that is critical for natural killer (NK), invariant natural killer T (iNKT), and CD8 memory T cell development and homeostasis. The role of IL-15 in regulating effector T cell subsets, however, remains incompletely understood. IL-15 is mostly expressed by stromal cells, myeloid cells, and dendritic cells (DCs). Whether T cells themselves can express IL-15, and if so, whether such T cell-derived IL-15 could play an autocrine role in T cells are interesting questions that were previously addressed but answered with mixed results. Recently, three independent studies described the generation of IL-15 reporter mice which facilitated the identification of IL-15-producing cells and helped to clarify the role of IL-15 both in vitro and in vivo. Here, we review the findings of these studies and place them in context of recent reports that examined T cell-intrinsic IL-15 expression during CD4 effector T cell differentiation.

Keyword

Cytokine receptor; Inflammation; Th17 cells; Cytokine signaling

MeSH Terms

Animals
Cell Differentiation
Dendritic Cells
Homeostasis
Humans
In Vitro Techniques
Inflammation
Interleukin-15*
Memory
Mice*
Myeloid Cells
Receptors, Cytokine
Stromal Cells
T-Lymphocyte Subsets
T-Lymphocytes
Th17 Cells
Interleukin-15
Receptors, Cytokine

Figure

• 

  Figure 1. IL-15 expression and trans-presentation. (A) IL-15 is mostly expressed by non-lymphoid cells, such as stromal cells, myeloid cells, and DCs. T cells, on the other hand, are an unlikely source of IL-15. (B) IL-15 is trans-presented by IL-15Rα and signals through the IL-2Rβ/γ c heterodimeric cytokine receptor that is expressed on T cells. (C) IL-15 signaling in T cells depend on IL-15 that is expressed and presented in trans, because effector T cells do not express IL-15 and cannot signal in cis.

Reference

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