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Blocking of melatonin synthesis and MT1 receptor impairs the activation of Jurkat T cells

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Abstract

Melatonin has been proposed as regulating the immune system by affecting cytokine production in immunocompetent cells, enhancing the production of several T helper (Th)1 cytokines. To further investigate the melatonin’s role in IL-2/IL-2R system, we established an inducible T-REx expression system in Jurkat cells in which the protein levels of HIOMT enzyme or MT1 receptor were significantly down-regulated upon tetracycline incubation. We found that T-REx Jurkat cells with lower levels of HIOMT activity, and consequently lower content of endogenous melatonin, showed IL-2 production decrease after activation with lectin. Likewise, tetracycline-inducible stable cell line expressing MT1 antisense produced decreased amounts of IL-2 (mRNA and protein levels) after stimulation. Moreover, in T-Rex-MT1 cells incubated with tetracycline, a sub-optimal PHA dose failed to induce the early activation marker CD25 on the cell surface. The results shown here support the relevance of endogenous melatonin and its signaling in T cell activation.

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Acknowledgments

This paper was supported by grants from Ministerio de Sanidad FIS (06/0091) and Red-FIS (RD06/0013/0001) and Grupo Excelencia del Plan Andaluz de Investigacion (P06-CTS-01604).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla (IBiS), Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocio/CSIC/Universidad de Sevilla, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Seville School of Medicine, Sanchez Pizjuan 4, 41009, Seville, Spain

    Patricia J. Lardone, Amalia Rubio, Antonio Carrillo-Vico & Patrocinio Molinero

  2. Department of Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Virgen Macarena University Hospital, University of Seville School of Medicine, Seville, Spain

    Araceli Gómez-Corvera, Patricia Fernandez-Riejos & Victor Sanchez-Margalet

  3. Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemical Engineering, University Pablo de Olavide, Seville, Spain

    Isabel Cerrillo

  4. Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla (IBiS), Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocio/CSIC/Universidad de Sevilla, Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Virgen del Rocio University Hospital, Seville, Spain

    Marina Sanchez-Hidalgo & Juan M. Guerrero

Authors
  1. Patricia J. Lardone
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  2. Amalia Rubio
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  3. Isabel Cerrillo
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  4. Araceli Gómez-Corvera
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  5. Antonio Carrillo-Vico
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  6. Marina Sanchez-Hidalgo
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  7. Juan M. Guerrero
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  8. Patricia Fernandez-Riejos
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  9. Victor Sanchez-Margalet
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  10. Patrocinio Molinero
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Patrocinio Molinero.

Additional information

P. J. Lardone and A. Rubio contributed equally to this work.

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Lardone, P.J., Rubio, A., Cerrillo, I. et al. Blocking of melatonin synthesis and MT1 receptor impairs the activation of Jurkat T cells. Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 67, 3163–3172 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-010-0374-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-010-0374-y

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