Requirements for the induction of the interleukin-2 receptor complex in a human pre-T-cell line.

Cell line PER-117 is a T-cell receptor negative human T-cell line that can be induced to express a functional interleukin-2 receptor (IL-2R). Recombinant interleukin-1 (IL-I) as well as certain combinations of inducer substances could be shown to stimulate the expression of the p55 (α)-chain of the IL-2R in PER-1 I7 cells: The synergistic increases in 1L-2 Rα expression were demonstrated at the cell surface as well as at the mRNA level. The results suggested that in PER-1 I7 cells 1L-1 appears to induce expression of the α-chain by pathways that are different to activation via protein kinase C (PKC), and that drug-induced cyclic AMP (cAMP) activation did not substitute for IL-1. We found that the regulation of mRNA for IL-2Rβ (p75) differed significantly from that seen for IL-2Rα. Moreover, the requirements for IL-2Rα induction determined for this cell line differ from other human cell lines, which may reflect that there are distinct requirements for activation depending on the stage of differentiation and/or lineage of the cells. The PER-1I7 cell line provides a unique model to examine further the mechanism leading to induction of a functional IL-2R at an early stage of human T-cell differentiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]