Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Interleukin-1 has a key role in the initial activation of T cells. However, its role, once T cells are fully activated, is not known. Human T-cell clones, driven with antigen and antigen-presenting cells once a week, and twice weekly with interleukin-2, are the most activated T cells known. We thus tested whether IL-1 was necessary for the activation of T-cell clones, using mouse L cells (incapable of producing human IL-1) transfected with human HLA-DP genes. No requirement for exogenous IL-1 was detected for induction of proliferation. In contrast to the lack of a requirement for IL-1 in T-cell activation, T-cell tolerance, the state of antigen-specific antigen-induced unresponsiveness, was partly blocked by IL-1 indicating that these cells can still respond to IL-1 in the appropriate circumstances. Blockage of tolerance induction by IL-1 may be one of the mechanisms underlying the maintenance of the autoimmune process.

Type

Journal article

Journal

British Journal of Rheumatology

Publication Date

01/01/1985

Volume

24

Pages

102 - 104