Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta), but not IL-2, causes LPS-stimulated surface (s)IgA- cells to express sIgA. Although there is a progression of sIgA- cells to sIgA+ cells and then to IgA-secreting cells, there is not a parallel change in ratio of membrane to secreted form of alpha-mRNA. In fact, the secreted form of alpha-mRNA is always the predominant form even before the expression of sIgA. However, at least some of the secreted alpha-mRNA transcripts are sterile. The increase in sIgA expression and the induction of sterile transcripts indicate that TGF-beta enhances H chain class switching to IgA as opposed to allowing the growth and maturation of cells precommitted to IgA secretion. The addition of IL-2 to cultures with TGF-beta results in a 5- to 10-fold increase in IgA secretion compared to cultures to which only TGF-beta was added. In these cultures IL-2 increases neither the proportion nor the total number of sIgA+ cells suggesting that IL-2 acts to increase IgA secretion. However, IL-2 does not cause a change in the ratio of secreted to membrane form of alpha-mRNA nor does it lead to an increase in the steady state level of alpha-mRNA comparable to the increase in secreted IgA. Thus, it appears that regulation of transcription of IgA as sIgA- cells proliferate and undergo H class switching and maturation does not follow the same sequence as is seen when sIgM+ cells proliferate and mature to Ig-secreting cells. Furthermore, the data suggest that maturation to high level secretion is controlled posttranscriptionally.
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Lebman et al. (1990) studied this question.