The Journal of immunology : official journal of the American Association of Immunologists
-
Although the steady-state level of the mouse mast cell protease (mMCP) 7 transcript is below detection in the serosal and mucosal mast cells of the BALB/cJ mouse, the IL-3-dependent, bone marrow-derived mast cells (mBMMC) of this strain and four other strains contain a high steady-state level of the mMCP-7 transcript. To further analyze the expression of this mast cell tryptase, a mMCP-7-specific IgG was obtained by immunizing a rabbit with a 19-residue synthetic peptide that corresponds to its unique amino acid sequence at residues 160 to 178 (anti-mMCP-7(160-178). ⋯ In contrast, the ear mast cells of the C57BL/6J mouse do not contain detectable levels of mMCP-7 protein, although the ear mast cells of both mouse strains contain mMCP-5 protein. Because mMCP-7 mRNA and protein also were not detected in mBMMC from the C57BL/6J mouse, the failure of the ear mast cells of this strain to express mMCP-7 is most likely a consequence of an intrinsic abnormality in the mast cell-committed progenitor cells themselves, or in the bone marrow microenvironment that induces its mast cell progenitor cells to express this tryptase.
-
Cross-linking of Ly-6 molecules on T lymphocytes leads to IL-2 production, whereas costimulation of T cells via Ly-6A/E and the TCR inhibits IL-2 secretion. This study was initiated to determine whether there are unique structural requirements at the level of the Ly-6 molecule for its capacity to activate or block IL-2 production. Functional studies in which transfected EL-4J cells that expressed various Ly-6 proteins or chimeric Ly-6 molecules were used have demonstrated that direct activation of IL-2 secretion or inhibition of anti-CD3-induced IL-2 production occurred after mAb binding to Ly-6A/E, Ly-6C, and Ly-6G and was independent of whether the mAbs bound to amino- or carboxyl-terminal epitopes of Ly-6. ⋯ Anti-Ly-6A/E also blocked anti-CD3-induced IL-2 production for these cells, although anti-Ly-6A/E failed to directly induce IL-2 secretion. Thus, anti-Ly-6A/E blockade of IL-2 production is independent of the glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor of Ly-6E. This finding suggests that there may be aspects of signaling via Ly-6 that are solely dependent on the extracellular amino acid sequence of this protein.