Biomedical subjects

W J Murphy

Publications and source records attributed to W J Murphy.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

PubMed1995

Cellular and molecular studies in the treatment of murine renal cancer.

Antigen-nonspecific approaches to the use of BRMs for cancer treatment have resulted in only limited success to date. In particular, the use of large numbers of adoptively transferred, broadly cytotoxic LAK cells in combination with IL-2 has been effective for only small subsets of cancer patients. Recent demonstrations of T-lymphocyte-mediated antigen-specific responses against some human tumors, and the more potent effects of these cells in preclinical models, have refocused much of the dialogue for biological therapy to potentiation of T-lymphocyte-mediated antitumor effects. Our studies are using the well-characterized Renca murine renal cancer model to study the induction of antitumor T-lymphocyte-mediated responses, the mechanisms by which positive effects are achieved, and the reasons why T lymphocytes in tumor-bearing mice may not respond as predicted. One possible reason why T-lymphocyte responses may not be triggered easily by tumors could be an impairment of critical nuclear transcription factors. We also are studying two approaches for stimulating T-cells in tumor-conditioned hosts. (1) We have shown that IL-7 has potent costimulatory effects on T cells as well as some antitumor effects. (2) We are developing a comprehensive vaccine-type gene therapy approach whereby T cells and antigen-presenting dendritic cells are recruited through the use of antigen, chemokines and GM-CSF. Studies are in progress to determine whether the activity of these recruited cells can then be potentiated by Renca or fibroblast transfectants that express T-cell costimulatory cytokines (IL-2, IL-4, IL-7, or IL-12). This approach should optimize both MHC class I- and class II-dependent pathways for induction of T-lymphocyte-mediated responses to cancer, and perhaps overcome tumor-induced impairments in the T lymphocyte function.

Animals↗

PubMed1994

Nitric oxide reduces early growth response-1 gene expression in rat lung macrophages treated with interferon-gamma and lipopolysaccharide.

Since early growth response-1 (Egr-1) is required for macrophage differentiation and nitric oxide (NO) is immunosuppressive, we hypothesized that NO would reduce Egr-1 expression in rat lung macrophages. The inflammatory stimuli interferon-gamma and lipopolysaccharide induced an early, transient increase in Egr-1 mRNA (> 5-fold at 2 h) and a sustained, high level of inducible NO synthase mRNA (> 100-fold from 4 to 24 h). The NO metabolites nitrite and nitrate rose > 10-fold in medium from stimulated versus unstimulated cells over 24 h. Concomitant with elevated nitrogen oxides, Egr-1 mRNA levels declined to 80% below unstimulated cells at 24 h. This decline was blocked by an inhibitor of NO production, NG-monomethyl-L-arginine. Further, the NO donor S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine inhibited Egr-1 expression in a dose-dependent manner, producing complete inhibition at 0.5 mM. The effect of S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine was not due to reduced macrophage viability. We conclude that Egr-1 induction precedes inducible NO synthase induction in stimulated rat macrophages and that subsequent NO production reduces macrophage expression of Egr-1. We propose that this mechanism is used to regulate macrophage differentiation in human immunodeficiency virus infection and other inflammatory states.

Amino Acid Oxidoreductases↗

PubMed1994

Ganciclovir treatment of herpes simplex thymidine kinase-transduced primary T lymphocytes: an approach for specific in vivo donor T-cell depletion after bone marrow transplantation?

Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is associated with a severe complication--graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Although effectively preventing GVHD, ex vivo T-lymphocyte marrow depletion unfortunately increases graft rejection and reduces the graft-versus-leukemia (GVL) effect. The ex vivo transfer of the herpes simplex thymidine kinase (HS-tk) suicide gene into T cells before their infusion with hematopoietic stem cells could allow for selective in vivo depletion of these T cells with ganciclovir (GCV) if subsequent GVHD was to occur. Thus, one could preserve the beneficial effects of the T cells on engraftment and tumor control in patients not experiencing severe GVHD. To obtain T cells specifically depleted by GCV, we transduced primary T cells with a retroviral vector containing the HS-tk and neomycin resistance (NeoR) genes. Gene transfer was performed by coculturing PHA +/- CD3- or alloantigen-stimulated purified T cells on an irradiated retroviral vector producer cell line or by incubating the T cells in supernatant from the producer. Subsequent culture in G418 for 1 week allowed for the selection of transduced cells. GCV treatment of interleukin-2-responding transduced and selected cells resulted in greater than 80% growth inhibition, whereas GCV treatment of control cells had no effect. Similarly, the allogeneic reactivity of HS-tk-transduced cells was specifically inhibited by GCV. Combining transduced and nontransduced T cells did not show a bystander effect, thus implying that all of the cells inhibited by GCV were indeed transduced. Lastly, studies involving the transduction of the HUT-78 (T-lymphoma) cell line suggest that stable expression of HS-tk can be maintained over 3 months in vitro in the absence of G418. In summary, we have established the feasibility of generating HS-tk-transduced T cells for subsequent in vivo transfer with hematopoietic stem cells and, if GVHD occurs, specific in vivo GCV-induced T-cell depletion in allogeneic BMT recipients.

Bone Marrow↗

PubMed1994

Induction of T cell differentiation and lymphomagenesis in the thymus of mice with severe combined immune deficiency (SCID).

Severe combined immune deficiency (SCID) mice have a defect in their recombinase system and cannot productively rearrange their immune receptor genes. Thus, SCID thymocytes are arrested at the immature "triple negative" phase, not expressing CD3, CD4, or CD8 surface markers. Whole body irradiation of SCID mice induced maturation of their thymocytes to the CD4+/CD8+ double positive, CD3+low stage of differentiation, and resulted in the generation of a thymic cortical region on histologic examination. No mature single positive T cells were detected in the thymus or the periphery. VDJ rearrangements of TCR-beta with restricted clonality were observed in the double positive cells from a given individual. The CD3 complex was expressed on some of these cells, but the cells failed to mobilize intracellular calcium after cross-linking with CD3 Abs. The double positive cells appeared several weeks after irradiation, persisted for many months in the thymus, and by 6 mo generally developed into metastatic lymphoma. Retroviral activation was undetectable in both the preneoplastic and transformed thymocytes. Thus, it appears that the earliest steps in T cell development can be induced in SCID mice by inducing DNA breaks with radiation. This system represents a model of early thymic development, preneoplasia, and neoplasia.

Animals↗

PubMed1994

Serum amyloid A is a chemoattractant: induction of migration, adhesion, and tissue infiltration of monocytes and polymorphonuclear leukocytes.

Serum amyloid A (SAA) is an acute phase protein that in the blood is bound to high density lipoproteins; SAA is secreted mainly by hepatocytes, and its concentration increases in the blood up to 1000 times during an inflammatory response. At present, its biological function is unclear. Since some forms of secondary amyloidosis are caused by deposition in tissues of peptides derived from the SAA and leukocytes seem to be involved in this process, we investigated the effect of human SAA on human monocytes and polymorphonuclear cells (PMN). When recombinant human SAA (rSAA) was used at concentrations corresponding to those found during the acute phase (> 0.8 microM), it induced directional migration of monocytes and polymorphonuclear leukocytes. Preincubation of rSAA with high density lipoproteins blocked this chemoattractant activity for both monocytes and PMN. rSAA also regulated the expression of the adhesion proteins CD11b and leukocyte cell adhesion molecule 1 and induced the adhesion of PMN and monocytes to umbilical cord vein endothelial cell monolayers. When subcutaneously injected into mice, rSAA recruited PMN and monocytes at the injection site. On the basis of these data, we suggest that SAA may participate in enhancing the migration of monocytes and PMN to inflamed tissues during an acute phase response.

Animals↗

PubMed1994

Inhibition of human B-cell lymphoma growth by CD40 stimulation.

CD40 is a molecule present on B lymphocyte lineage cells that is important in B-cell differentiation and activation. Signaling through CD40 has been shown to exert costimulatory signals on normal B cells resulting in proliferative and differentiation responses. Examination of several B-cell lymphomas showed cell-surface expression of the CD40 molecule. Incubation of these lymphomas with anti-CD40 antibodies resulted in significant growth inhibition in vitro. Cross-linking of the CD40 antibodies resulted in even greater inhibition of proliferation. A recombinant soluble human CD40 ligand was also shown to inhibit lymphoma proliferation. When various human B-cell lymphomas were transferred into mice with severe combined immune deficiency, the treatment of the mice with anti-CD40 antibodies resulted in significant increases in survival showing that anti-CD40 is efficacious after in vivo administration. Thus, CD40 stimulation by either the antibody or soluble ligand directly inhibits human B-cell lymphoma growth and therefore, may be of significant clinical use in their treatment.

Animals↗

PubMed1994

Human RANTES induces the migration of human T lymphocytes into the peripheral tissues of mice with severe combined immune deficiency.

The human cytokine, Recombinant Human Regulated on Activation, Normal T Expressed and Secreted (rhRANTES), is a small glycoprotein secreted by activated T cells and platelets and is structurally related to a family of chemotactic cytokines called chemokines. Evaluation of the effects of chemokines on human cells has largely been limited to in vitro binding assays. In an effort to study the in vivo effects of chemokines on human leukocyte migration, we examined the ability of rhRANTES to induce human T cell infiltration using a human/severe combined immune deficient (SCID) mouse model. SCID mice received human peripheral blood lymphocytes, followed by sequential subcutaneous injections of rhRANTES in the hind flank for 3 days. The skin and underlying tissue from the rhRANTES injection site were then biopsied and examined for the extent of human mononuclear cell infiltration. rhRANTES induced significant mononuclear cell accumulation 72 h after injection. Immunohistological evaluation determined that the majority of the cells recruited in response to rhRANTES injections were human CD3+ T cells with equal numbers of CD4+ and CD8+ cells. In contrast, subcutaneous injections of recombinant human macrophage colony-stimulating factors resulted in little human cellular infiltration. Murine mononuclear cell infiltration in response to rhRANTES was also present suggesting that the in vivo effects of rhRANTES may be both direct and indirect. These results demonstrate that rhRANTES induces significant human T cell migration in vivo and suggests that the human/SCID mouse model may provide an important tool in studying the in vivo effects of chemokines on human leukocytes and leukocyte subsets.

Animals↗

PubMed1994

Growth hormone promotes human T cell adhesion and migration to both human and murine matrix proteins in vitro and directly promotes xenogeneic engraftment.

Recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) promotes human T cell engraftment in mice with severe combined immunodeficiency, suggesting that rhGH may have effects on T cell adhesion and migration in vivo. The ability of rhGH to directly affect the adhesion capacity of human T cells to a variety of human or murine adhesion molecules and extracellular matrix proteins was examined. rhGH induced significant human T cell adherence to both human and murine substrates via either beta 1 or beta 2 integrin molecules. rhGH was capable of inducing significant migration of resting and activated human T cells and their subsets. Most of the migratory response to rhGH was chemokinetic rather than chemotactic. In vivo engraftment studies in severe combined immunodeficiency mice receiving human T cells revealed that treatment with rhGH resulted in improved thymic engraftment, whereas treatment with non-human-reactive ovine GH demonstrated no significant effects. These data demonstrate that rhGH directly augments human T cell trafficking to peripheral murine lymphoid tissues. rhGH appears to be capable of directly altering the adhesive and migratory capacity of human T cells to molecules of either murine or human origin. Therefore, GH may, under either isogeneic or xenogeneic conditions, play a role in normal lymphocyte recirculation.

Animals↗

PubMed1994

Human insulin-like growth factor I exerts hematopoietic growth-promoting effects after in vivo administration.

Recombinant human insulin-like growth factor I (rhIGF-I) was administered to mice to determine its effect on hematopoiesis. Mice given intraperitoneal (IP) injections of 5 micrograms rhIGF-I for 7 days exhibited a significant increase in bone marrow (BM) hematopoietic progenitor cells, suggesting that rhIGF-I acts as a hematopoietic growth factor. Treatment with rhIGF-I also resulted in increases in erythroid precursor cells. Mice were then placed on azidothymidine (AZT), which produces significant myelotoxic effects. Splenic and BM progenitor cell content and hematocrit values were all significantly increased if rhIGF-I (5 micrograms injected IP every day for 28 days) was concurrently administered with AZT. Additionally, when mice were initially myelosuppressed by several weeks of AZT treatment, the subsequent administration of rhIGF-I resulted in an increase in hematopoietic progenitor cell content. No significant pathologic effects or weight changes were observed in mice receiving repeated injections of rhIGF-I at this dose and schedule. Thus, rhIGF-I exerts hematopoietic growth-promoting effects in vivo and may be of potential clinical use in promoting hematopoiesis in the face of myelotoxic therapy.

Animals↗

PubMed1993

Macrophage nitric oxide synthase gene: two upstream regions mediate induction by interferon gamma and lipopolysaccharide.

The promoter region of the mouse gene for macrophage-inducible nitric oxide synthase (mac-NOS; EC 1.14.13.39) has been characterized. A putative TATA box is 30 base pairs upstream of the transcription start site. Computer analysis reveals numerous potential binding sites for transcription factors, many of them associated with stimuli that induce mac-NOS expression. To localize functionally important portions of the regulatory region, we constructed deletion mutants of the mac-NOS 5' flanking region and placed them upstream of a luciferase reporter gene. The macrophage cell line RAW 264.7, when transfected with a minimal promoter construct, expresses little luciferase activity when stimulated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS), interferon gamma (IFN-gamma), or both. Maximal expression depends on two discrete regulatory regions upstream of the putative TATA box. Region I (position -48 to -209) increases luciferase activity approximately 75-fold over the minimal promoter construct. Region I contains LPS-related responsive elements, including a binding site for nuclear factor interleukin 6 (NF-IL6) and the kappa B binding site for NF-kappa B, suggesting that this region regulates LPS-induced expression of the mac-NOS gene. Region II (position -913 to -1029) alone does not increase luciferase expression, but together with region I it causes an additional 10-fold increase in expression. Together the two regions increase expression 750-fold over activity obtained from a minimal promoter construct. Region II contains motifs for binding IFN-related transcription factors and thus probably is responsible for IFN-mediated regulation of LPS-induced mac-NOS. Delineation of these two cooperative regions explains at the level of transcription how IFN-gamma and LPS act in concert to induce maximally the mac-NOS gene and, furthermore, how IFN-gamma augments the inflammatory response to LPS.

Amino Acid Oxidoreductases↗

PubMed1993

Activated natural killer cells and interleukin-2 promote granulocytic and megakaryocytic reconstitution after syngeneic bone marrow transplantation in mice.

Purified populations of natural killer (NK) cells were obtained from mice with severe combined immune deficiency (SCID). SCID spleen cells were cultured and activated with recombinant human interleukin-2 (rhIL-2) in vitro. The activated NK cells were then transferred with syngeneic BALB/c bone marrow cells (BMC) and rhIL-2 into lethally irradiated syngeneic recipients to determine their effect on long-term hematopoietic reconstitution. On analysis, the transfer of rhIL-2-activated NK cells along with BMC resulted in significant increases in splenic and BM hematopoietic progenitor cells when compared with those for mice not receiving NK cells. Histologic and flow cytometric analysis showed a marked increase in granulocytic and megakaryocytic lineage cells present in the spleens of the mice receiving activated NK cells. Analysis of the peripheral blood indicated that the transfer of activated NK cells with BMC also significantly improved platelet and total white blood cell counts, with increases in segmented neutrophils. Erythroid recovery was not affected. Finally, lethally irradiated mice receiving activated NK cells and rhIL-2 along with limiting numbers of syngeneic BMC showed a marked increase in survival rate. These results show that the use of populations enriched for activated NK cells after syngeneic BM transplantation (BMT) has a profound enhancing effect on engraftment primarily affecting megakaryocytic and granulocytic cell reconstitution. Therefore, the transfer of activated NK cells and rhIL-2 may be of clinical use to promote hematopoietic reconstitution after BMT.

Animals↗

PubMed1993

Natural killer cells and bone marrow transplantation.

Bone marrow transplantation is currently used in the treatment of a variety of neoplastic and nonneoplastic diseases. However, significant obstacles still limit the efficacy of this procedure. These include the occurrence of graft-versus-host disease, the failure of the marrow to engraft, the susceptibility of patients to opportunistic infections during the period of immunodeficiency after transplantation before full recovery of immune function, and finally, the recurrence of the cancer. Natural killer (NK) cells are lymphoid cells responsible for mediating a variety of immunologic and homeostatic functions. Initially described almost 20 years ago, the full range of functions carried out by these enigmatic cells continues to unfold. NK cells may be both beneficial and deleterious in bone marrow transplantation, depending on their genotype and activation status. Resting host-derived NK cells appear capable of mediating resistance to both autologous and allogeneic bone marrow cell grafts. At the other end of the spectrum, the transfer of activated NK cells of donor type appears to produce multiple beneficial effects during both syngeneic and allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. Here, we review and attempt to reconcile the literature concerning the basic biology of NK cells and their effects on hematopoiesis, both in vitro and in vivo. We also discuss the current issues in bone marrow transplantation and the potential role NK cells may play in determining the outcome of the marrow graft, the occurrence of graft-versus-host disease, and the generation of a graft-versus-tumor response when bone marrow transplantation is used for the treatment of cancer.

Animals↗

PubMed1993

Differential effects of growth hormone and prolactin on murine T cell development and function.

DW/J dwarf mice have a defect in their anterior pituitary and are deficient in growth hormone (GH) and prolactin (PRL). These mice have been demonstrated previously to have a deficiency in CD4/CD8 double-positive thymocytes, which could be corrected by treatment of these mice with recombinant human GH. Since PRL has been implicated in T cell function and human GH can interact with the PRL receptor, DW/J dwarf mice were treated with either ovine GH (ovGH) (20 micrograms/d) or ovine PRL (ovPRL) (20 micrograms/d). The ovine hormones can only bind their own specific receptors in the mouse. After several weeks of treatment, it was found that these two hormones produced markedly contrasting effects on T cells. Phenotypic analysis of the lymphoid organs was performed by flow cytometry and the functional capability of the peripheral T cells was assessed by immunizing the mice and determining the extent of antigen-specific proliferation of T cells obtained from the draining lymph nodes or by determining splenic mitogen responses. The results indicated that ovGH administration to dwarf mice resulted in significant increases in thymic cellularity yet had little effect on peripheral T cell responses. In contrast, the administration of ovPRL resulted in a further decrease in thymic cellularity when compared with untreated dwarf mice. No thymic effects of either ovGH or ovPRL administration were detected on the normal +/? counterparts. However, ovPRL administration resulted in a significant increase in the number and function of antigen-specific peripheral T cells in both immunized dwarf and +/? mice. The adjuvant effects of PRL occurred even though the mice also received complete Freund's adjuvant. These results suggest that neuroendocrine hormones may act in concert in T cell development. GH appears to promote thymocyte proliferation, while PRL appears to decrease thymus size and yet augment the number and function of antigen-specific T cells in the periphery.

Animals↗

PubMed1993

Engraftment and activity of anti-CD3-activated human peripheral blood lymphocytes transferred into mice with severe combined immune deficiency.

Human PBL (huPBL) were activated with anti-CD3 mAb in vitro and then were transferred into mice with severe combined immune deficiency (SCID) to determine the effect of activation on engraftment and to determine if the engrafted human cells could provide antitumor effects in mice. Some mice were also treated with human rIL-2 after huPBL transfer. Mice were analyzed 6 to 8 wk after cell transfer and the number of human cells in the peripheral lymphoid organs was determined. Mice receiving anti-CD3-activated huPBL demonstrated a significant increase in the incidence of human T cell engraftment in the periphery as assessed by flow cytometry. Human cells were also detected in the murine thymus after anti-CD3 stimulation indicating that human T cells can migrate to the murine thymus provided that they are activated before the transfer. The transfer of anti-CD3-activated huPBL also resulted in an xenogeneic graft-vs-host reaction manifested primarily by proliferation of murine splenic hemopoietic cells. When SCID mice received the human colon carcinoma HT29, the concurrent transfer of anti-CD3-activated human cells resulted in a significant increase in survival. However, the human cells displayed low cytolytic activity toward human tumor targets when they were recovered from the lymphoid organs of the SCID recipients. Supernatants from the anti-CD3-activated cells were able to inhibit the growth of HT29 in vitro, partly because of the presence of IFN-gamma, suggesting that the human T cells are producing cytokines in vivo that have antitumor effects. Thus, the use of anti-CD3-activated huPBL in SCID mice may be of value for optimizing human cell engraftment in the human/mouse lymphoid chimeras and may be used to evaluate potential anti-neoplastic therapies that employ human effector cells.

Animals↗

PubMed1993

Expression of the nitric oxide synthase gene in mouse macrophages activated for tumor cell killing. Molecular basis for the synergy between interferon-gamma and lipopolysaccharide.

Macrophages can become activated to kill both tumor cells and a variety of microbes. Results here show that synthesis of nitric oxide (NO), a mediator of many macrophage cytotoxic functions, was greatly increased when cells of the mouse macrophage cell line RAW 264.7 were costimulated with bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), compared to LPS alone. This increase paralleled increases in cytotoxicity. Northern analysis showed that increased production of NO was preceded by markedly enhanced expression of mRNA for the inducible form of macrophage NO synthase (mac-NOS), which catalyzes the synthesis of NO. Cycloheximide inhibited the induction of mac-NOS mRNA by IFN-gamma and LPS, indicating that expression of this mRNA required de novo protein synthesis. Elevated expression of mac-NOS mRNA was not due to an increase in its stability. Rather, the combination of IFN-gamma and LPS induced a much higher rate of transcription of the mac-NOS gene than did stimulation with LPS alone. These results provide one explanation of why priming and triggering stimuli, such as IFN-gamma and LPS, respectively, synergistically activate macrophages and may be applicable to explaining how IFN-gamma augments NO-dependent microbicidal activity in macrophages as well.

Amino Acid Oxidoreductases↗

PubMed1993

New off-line method for detecting spontaneous otoacoustic emissions in human subjects.

Spontaneous otoacoustic emissions were evaluated in 36 female and 40 male subjects. In agreement with the results of previous surveys, emissions were found to be more prevalent in female subjects and there was a tendency for the male subjects to have fewer emissions in their left ears. The digitization of five minute samples of ear canal signals, combined with sophisticated data analysis, produced a substantial reduction in the emission detection threshold. 588 emissions were detected in 72% of the subjects and 56% of the ears. Of the observed emissions, 18 could be identified with cubic distortion products of other emissions, and 11 could be identified as harmonic products (i.e., integral frequency multiples of other emissions). The large number of emissions detected (one subject had 32 in her right ear and 25 in her left) permitted evaluation of the pattern of separation of emissions. The average effective separation along the basilar membrane (according to the Greenwood frequency map) for adjacent emissions of all ears was 0.427 mm with interquartile values of 0.387 mm and 0.473 mm. The relationship between emission power, frequency, and full width at half maximum appears to be in agreement with the implications of a noise perturbed Van der Pol oscillator model of spontaneous emissions.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1993

Antitumor effects of interleukin-7 and adoptive immunotherapy on human colon carcinoma xenografts.

The antitumor properties of recombinant human IL-7 (rhIL-7) on a human tumor was evaluated by engrafting a human colon carcinoma into immunodeficient mice and then treating the mice with rhIL-7 and adoptively transferred human peripheral blood T cells. It was found that rhIL-7 alone had no effect on the survival of the tumor-bearing recipients. However, the combination of rhIL-7 and human T cells significantly promoted the survival of the recipients compared with mice receiving either treatment by itself. When the surviving mice were analyzed 6 mo later for the degree of human cell engraftment, the recipients receiving both rhIL-7 and human T cells had greater numbers of human CD8+ T cells in the spleens. However, the human T cells recovered from the surviving mice showed low lytic activity against the tumor in vitro. Supernatants from human T cells cultured with the tumor and rhIL-7 in vitro were found to inhibit tumor growth and were demonstrated to contain high levels of IFN-gamma. Antibodies to IFN-gamma neutralized the growth inhibition of the tumor both in vitro and in vivo demonstrating that the in vivo mechanism underlying the antitumor effects of this regimen was partly dependent on the production of IFN-gamma by the T cells and not their cytolytic capability. Interestingly, systemic administration of rhIFN-gamma to tumor-bearing mice yielded little antitumor effect suggesting that adoptive immunotherapy with rhIL-7 was superior possibly because of the continuous local release of the cytokines. Therefore, rhIL-7 may be of clinical use as an antineoplastic agent and the human/mouse model is a potentially important preclinical model for in vivo evaluation of the efficacy of this and other immunotherapies.

Animals↗

PubMed1992

Role of neuroendocrine hormones in murine T cell development. Growth hormone exerts thymopoietic effects in vivo.

Growth hormone (GH) and other neuroendocrine mediators have been implicated previously in T cell development. We therefore examined thymic development in DW/J dwarf mice. DW/J mice lack acidophilic anterior pituitary cells and consequently are totally deficient in the production of GH, as well as other neuroendocrine hormones. DW/J dwarf mice had greatly hypoplastic thymi that continued to decrease in size as the mice aged. Characterization of the different T cell subpopulations within the thymi of dwarf mice indicated a deficiency in CD4+/CD8+ double-positive thymocytes. This deficiency of progenitor cells became more complete as the mice aged culminating in the total disappearance of this subpopulation in some dwarf mice > 3 mo of age. Analysis of the lymph nodes indicated that a population of double-positive (CD4/CD8) T cells appeared in some mice concurrent with the disappearance of double-positive cells in the thymus suggesting that these thymocytes may have migrated to the periphery. However, peripheral T cells from dwarf mice did exhibit Ag-specific responses indicating that these mice have functional T cells. Treatment of the mice with recombinant human GH, which binds both murine growth hormone receptors and murine prolactin receptors, or ovine GH, which binds murine growth hormone receptors but not murine prolactin receptors, resulted in an increase in thymic size and the reappearance of the CD4+/CD8+ double-positive cells within the thymus. Additionally, after GH treatment, the double-positive cells disappeared from the lymph nodes. The thymi of mice treated with GH failed to attain normal size but did develop a normal distribution of T cell progenitors. Thus, GH exerts significant thymopoietic effects in vivo. Neuroendocrine hormones may be important for normal T cell differentiation to occur within the murine thymus.

Animals↗