The essential role of phorbol ester-sensitive protein kinase C isoforms in activation-induced cell death of Th1 cells

✍ Scribed by Takashi Yahata; Naoko Abe; Chie Yahata; Yasushi Ohmi; Akio Ohta; Kenji Iwakabe; Sonoko Habu; Hideo Yagita; Hidemitsu Kitamura; Naoto Matsuki; Minoru Nakui; Marimo Sato; Takashi Nishimura

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 166 KB
• Volume: 29
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0014-2980
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1521-4141(199903)29:03<727::aid-immu727>3.0.co;2-0

✦ Synopsis

Th1 and Th2 cells, which were induced from naive T cells of TCR-transgenic mice, showed differential sensitivity to activation-induced cell death (AICD) triggered by stimulation with anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody. The Th1 cells showed more rapid AICD than Th2 cells. This accelerated AICD of Th1 cells was strongly blocked by protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitors (H-7 or GF 109203X). Moreover, long-term treatment of Th1 cells with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) caused the abrogation of anti-CD3-induced AICD in parallel with the disappearance of PMA-sensitive PKC isoforms such as PKC alpha, gamma, epsilon and theta. Therefore, it was clearly demonstrated that PMA-sensitive PKC isoforms are essential for AICD of Th1 cells. The different susceptibility to AICD between Th1 and Th2 cells was not due to their differential expression levels of PMA-sensitive PKC isoforms but appeared to be due to their differential requirement for PMA-sensitive isoforms in the up-regulation of Fas ligand which is involved in suicide killing of activated Th1 cells.