Open AccessExpression of nerve growth factor and nerve growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase Trk in activated CD4-positive T-cell clones.
Author(s) -
Patricia Ehrhard,
Peter C. Erb,
Ursula Graumann,
U. Otten
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.90.23.10984
Subject(s) - trk receptor , nerve growth factor , biology , tropomyosin receptor kinase a , neurotrophin , autocrine signalling , paracrine signalling , microbiology and biotechnology , receptor , signal transduction , medicine , biochemistry
Recent evidence suggests that nerve growth factor (NGF), in addition to its neurotrophic functions, acts as an immunomodulator mediating "cross-talk" between neuronal and immune cells, including T lymphocytes. We have analyzed murine CD4+ T-cell clones for their ability to express transcripts encoding NGF, low-affinity NGF receptor, and trk protooncogene, the signal-transducing receptor subunit for NGF. We show that two CD4+ T-helper (Th) clones, Th0-type clone 8/37 and Th2-type clone D10.G4.1, express NGF and Trk mRNA after appropriate activation with mitogen or with antigen and antigen-presenting cells. NGF and trk induction occurred to a similar extent and over a similar time course in activated 8/37 T cells, raising the possibility that NGF and trk genes are under coordinate control. NGF and NGF receptor expression does not seem to be a universal property of all activated CD4+ T cells, since Th1-type clone 9/9 did not express any of the transcripts after either stimulation. The absence of low-affinity NGF receptor mRNA in resting and activated T cells implies that the low-affinity NGF receptor is not involved in NGF signal transduction in CD4+ T cells. Our finding that activated CD4+ T-cell clones not only express Trk but also synthesize and release biologically active NGF implicates NGF as an autocrine and/or paracrine factor in the development and regulation of immune responses.