Lymphokine mRNA and T cell multireceptor mRNA of the Ig super gene family are reciprocally modulated during human T cell activation

The expression of genes, implicated in T cell proliferation as well as those coding for the three chains of the T cell receptor (TcR) and for the CD4 and CD8 molecules, has been investigated during activation of various T cell populations maintained in long-term culture. We show that a minimal activation signal, capable of inducing interleukin 2 (IL 2) receptor expression without the expression of IL2 and interferon-gamma, was not associated with a down-regulation of the messengers coding for the T cell multireceptor molecules. In contrast, a strong activation signal via the TcR/CD3 complex or via the CD2 molecule resulted in a reciprocal transient up-regulation of the messengers implicated in T cell proliferation and a down-regulation of the messengers encoding the molecules of the TcR complex of the immunoglobulin super gene family.