期刊名称：Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN：0027-8424
电子版ISSN：1091-6490
出版年度：2010
卷号：107
期号：7
页码：3058-3063
DOI：10.1073/pnas.0812851107
语种：English
出版社：The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要：Cytokines are pleiotropic and readily diffusible messenger molecules, raising the question of how their action can be confined to specific target cells. The T cell cytokine interleukin-2 (IL-2) is essential for the homeostasis of regulatory T (Treg) cells that suppress (auto)immunity and stimulates immune responses mediated by conventional T cells. We combined mathematical modeling and experiments to dissect the dynamics of the IL-2 signaling network that links the prototypical IL-2 producers, conventional T helper (Th) cells, and Treg cells. We show how the IL-2-induced upregulation of high-affinity IL-2 receptors (IL-2R) establishes a positive feedback loop of IL-2 signaling. This feedback mediates a digital switch for the proliferation of Th cells and functions as an analog amplifier for the IL-2 uptake capacity of Treg cells. Unlike other positive feedbacks in cell signaling that augment signal propagation, the IL-2/IL-2R loop enhances the capture of the signal molecule and its degradation. Thus Treg and Th cells can compete for IL-2 and restrict its range of action through efficient cellular uptake. Depending on activation status and spatial localization of the cells, IL-2 may be consumed exclusively by Treg or Th cells, or be shared between them. In particular, a Treg cell can deprive a stimulated Th cell of its IL-2, but only when the cells are located in close proximity, within a few tens of micrometers. The present findings explain how IL-2 can play two disctinct roles in immune regulation and point to a hitherto largely unexplored spatiotemporal complexity of cytokine signaling.
关键词：bi-stability ; cell-to-cell communication ; cytokine networks ; mathematical modeling ; reaction–diffusion systems
