Cyclic AMP synergy with Ca2+ for production of IFN-gamma by a cytolytic T cell clone is post-transcriptional.

PGE2 or products increasing the intracellular concentration of cAMP (cAMP)i) had opposite effects on the induction of IFN-gamma in a CTL clone, depending on the inducing agent. Activation via the TCR was inhibited, whereas induction by the Ca2+ ionophore ionomycin was enhanced in the presence of agents increasing (cAMP)i. Synergy between Ca2(+)-dependent and cAMP-dependent pathways was independent of the activation of protein kinase C (PKC). Low levels of IFN-gamma mRNA could be detected transiently after induction with ionomycin alone, whereas simultaneous induction with agents increasing (cAMP)i led to enhanced levels of IFN-gamma mRNA detectable up to 12 h. No IFN-gamma mRNA was detected when the CTL were activated with (cAMP)i-increasing agents alone or with PKC-activating agents such as PMA, suggesting that the transcriptional activation of the IFN-gamma gene was strictly dependent on the Ca2(+)-mediated and cyclosporin A-dependent event. Analyses of IFN-gamma mRNA transcription by "run-on" experiments on nuclei isolated after activation of the CTL indicated that the Ca2+ signal alone induces maximal transcription of the IFN-gamma gene, which is not increased by either PKC activation or an increase in cAMP, but that further processing or stabilization of the IFN-gamma precursor or mature mRNA require an additional signal, provided either via a PKC or via a PKA activation pathway. The data also suggest that a combination of inflammatory products leading to an increase in (Ca2+)i and to an increase in (cAMP)i may bypass the usually stringent control of T cell activation by the TCR/CD3 complex.