Interferon- Activates Multiple STAT Proteins and Upregulates Proliferation-Associated IL-2R, c-myc, and pim-1 Genes in Human T Cells

Interferon- (IFN-) is a pleiotropic cytokine that has antiviral, antiproliferative, and immunoregulatory functions. There is increasing evidence that IFN- has an important role in T-cell biology. We have analyzed the expression of IL-2R , c-myc, and pim-1 genes in anti-CD3–activated human T lymphocytes. The induction of these genes is associated with interleukin-2 (IL-2)–induced T-cell proliferation. Treatment of T lymphocytes with IFN-, IL-2, IL-12, and IL-15 upregulated IL-2R , c-myc, and pim-1 gene expression. IFN- also sensitized T cells to IL-2–induced proliferation, further suggesting that IFN- may be involved in the regulation of T-cell mitogenesis. When we analyzed the nature of STAT proteins capable of binding to IL-2R , pim-1 , and IRF-1 GAS elements after cytokine stimulation, we observed IFN-–induced binding of STAT1, STAT3, and STAT4, but not STAT5 to all of these elements. Yet, IFN- was able to activate binding of STAT5 to the high-affinity IFP53 GAS site. IFN- enhanced tyrosine phosphorylation of STAT1, STAT3, STAT4, STAT5a, and STAT5b. IL-12 induced STAT4 and IL-2 and IL-15 induced STAT5 binding to the GAS elements. Taken together, our results suggest that IFN-, IL-2, IL-12, and IL-15 have overlapping activities on human T cells. These findings thus emphasize the importance of IFN- as a T-cell regulatory cytokine.