Immunity
Volume 3, Issue 4, October 1995, Pages 521-530
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Article
Interleukin-2 receptor α chain regulates the size and content of the peripheral lymphoid compartment

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Abstract

Interleukin-2 receptor α chain (IL-2Rα) expression occurs at specific stages of early T and B lymphocyte development and is induced upon activation of mature lymphocytes. Young mice that lack IL-2Rα have phenotypically normal development of T and B cells. However, as adults, these mice develop massive enlargement of peripheral lymphoid organs associated with polyclonal T and B cell expansion, which, for T cells, is correlated with impaired activation-induced cell death in vivo. Older IL-2Rα-deficient mice also develop autoimmune disorders, including hemolytic anemia and inflammatory bowel disease. Thus, IL-2Rα is essential for regulation of both the size and content of the peripheral lymphoid compartment, probably by influencing the balance between clonal expansion and cell death following lymphocyte activation.

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Present address: Center for Cancer Research and Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139.