Interleukin (IL)-7 and IL-15 are cytokines implicated in homeostatic control of the peripheral CD8 T-cell pool. We compared the effects of IL-7 and IL-15 on survival and proliferation of purified human CD8+ T-cell subsets. Low concentrations of either cytokine reduced the spontaneous apoptosis of all subsets, and enhancement of survival corresponded to the extent of Bcl-2 up-regulation. Surprisingly, although minimal proliferation of naïve CD8+ T cells was observed during the first week of culture with cytokines, a marked expansion of these cells occurred at later time points, particularly in response to IL-15. This occurred largely without phenotypic change or acquisition of effector function, indicating a dissociation of differentiation from proliferation. Notably, progression of naïve CD8 + T cells through several cell divisions resulted in up-regulation of telomerase and the maintenance of telomere length. These data show that IL-7 and IL-15 induce cell proliferation and rescue from apoptosis in a concentration, time and subset-dependent manner, and have implications for the homeostatic expansion of the naïve CD8+ T-cell pool. © 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
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Wallace, D. L., Bérard, M., Soares, M. V. D., Oldham, J., Cook, J. E., Akbar, A. N., … Beverley, P. C. L. (2006). Prolonged exposure of naïve CD8+ T cells to interleukin-7 or interleukin-15 stimulates proliferation without differentiation or loss of telomere length. Immunology, 119(2), 243–253. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2567.2006.02429.x
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