Interleukin 2 inhibits antigen-stimulated lymphokine synthesis in helper T cells by inhibiting calcium-dependent signalling.

Certain L3T4+, Lyt-2- cloned murine helper T lymphocytes (HTL), when cultured with a high concentration of interleukin 2 (IL 2), become temporarily unresponsive to antigenic stimulation, as indicated by failure to proliferate and by reduced secretion of lymphokines when challenged with antigen. Exposure of cloned HTL to IL 2 also renders these cells less responsive to concanavalin A (Con A). Here we demonstrate that antigen-unresponsive HTL also accumulate reduced levels of lymphokine mRNA, thus indicating a pretranslational block of the response to antigen. However, HTL which had been pretreated with IL 2 and were unresponsive to antigen responded strongly to antigen + A23187 or to A23187 + PMA but failed to respond to antigen + PMA. With HTL made unresponsive to antigen or to Con A by exposure to IL 2, increases in intracellular calcium ion levels stimulated by Con A also were reduced. Thus, for mouse HTL clones, the IL 2-induced state of unresponsiveness to antigen or Con A appears to reflect an inability of such HTL to increase intracellular free calcium to a level sufficient for activation of lymphokine genes.