Publications

A recombinant amphotropic retrovirus was used to introduce the protein-coding region of the IL-2 receptor cDNA derived from HUT-102 cells into human CEM leukemic T-cells that lack these receptors. CEM T-cells that contained the virus expressed functional IL-2 receptors that transiently mediated five- to tenfold increases in [3H]thymidine incorporation following the addition of picomolar quantities of IL-2. Although IL-2 responsiveness was subsequently lost, it could be reinduced by cellular activation with the OKT11 monoclonal antibody. This phenotype also proved unstable with progressive time in culture. Despite the loss of IL-2 responsiveness, the infected CEM T-cells continued to express Tac antigen and displayed 50 to 200 high-affinity IL-2 receptors per cell that bound IL-2 with a dissociation constant of 4.3 pM. This affinity is fully equivalent to that detected on activated normal T-cells (2 to 50 pM). The apparent molecular size of the Tac antigen on these cells (55,000 to 60,000 daltons) was comparable to that on normal activated T-cells but 5000 daltons larger than the aberrant IL-2 receptors on HUT-102 cells. These data demonstrate that expression of a human IL-2 receptor cDNA in human T-cells results in high-affinity IL-2 receptor display that transiently imparts an IL-2 responsive state of growth. These results also raise the possibility that the T11 surface receptor may play an important regulatory role in high-affinity IL-2 receptor expression.

High-affinity IL-2-R correspond to a membrane receptor complex composed of two different IL-2-binding proteins, the Tac antigen (alpha chain) and a 70-75 kD beta chain. Using cell lines that express either the alpha or the beta protein, we demonstrate that IL-2 internalization occurs when ligand is bound to the isolated beta chain, but not when it is bound to the isolated alpha chain. The kinetics of IL-2 internalization mediated by the intermediate-affinity beta chain were nearly identical to those of the high-affinity alpha/beta heterodimer (t1/2 of 10-15 min), and each type of receptor targeted the bound IL-2 for intracellular degradation in lysosomes. The beta chain thus appeared to provide the essential element necessary for ligand internalization by both types of IL-2-R.

Interleukin 2 (IL-2) receptors on activated T cells exist in high- and low-affinity configurations, both of which share a ligand-binding component known as the Tac protein. Although almost all binding of IL-2 to such cells was inhibited by an antibody to Tac, the predominant component of binding on the natural killer (NK)-like cell line YT was resistant to this reagent. The ligand-binding component on YT cells also differed from Tac in its affinity constant (Kd approximately 8.2 X 10(-10) M vs. Kd approximately equal to 1.1 X 10(-8) M for low-affinity Tac sites) and in its susceptibility to inhibition by certain antibodies to IL-2. When the YT cells were stimulated in a manner that induced expression of the Tac protein, the IL-2 binding sites were converted to a high-affinity configuration (Kd approximately 1.8 X 10(-11) M). Thus, the original binding component on unstimulated YT cells appeared to combine with Tac and IL-2 to produce a high-affinity receptor complex. Use of bifunctional crosslinking agents following ligand binding to unstimulated YT cells yielded covalent IL-2-receptor complexes of 83 and 90 kDa. These complexes were similar in size to those derived from high-affinity receptors on activated T cells and shared a similar fragmentation pattern upon proteolysis. These results demonstrate the existence of a second IL-2 binding component in addition to the Tac protein and suggest that this component combines with Tac and IL-2 to form high-affinity receptor sites.