Effect of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) on IL-3/granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor production by T helper cells. Mode of stimulation and presence of costimulation can determine response to PGE2

Abstract

PGE2 is an immunomodulator that selectively inhibits the production of lymphokines associated with Th1 cells (IL-2 and IFN-gamma) but not Th2 cells (IL-4 and IL-5). We examined the effect of PGE2 on the production of IL-3 and granulocyte-macrophage (GM)-CSF from murine Th1 and Th2 clones. When the T cells were stimulated with Ag and APC, PGE2 inhibited IL-3/GM-CSF production from 3 Th1 clones and 1 Th2 clone, but enhanced production from 3 Th2 clones. A more specific bioassay demonstrated that IL-3 production was differentially affected by PGE2 in the Th clones. These data suggested that the effect of PGE2 on IL-3 production is dependent, not on a property of the lymphokine, but on a property of the T cell. The responsiveness to PGE2 did not consistently differ between Th1 and Th2 cells, and the observed heterogeneity in the response of Th2 clones did not correlate with the ability to induce increases in intracellular [Ca2+]. However, we postulated that signaling differences between the clones might explain the varied responsiveness to PGE2. If so, then the mode of stimulation might be expected to activate different pathways and thus affect the PGE2-responsiveness. Stimulation with ionomycin induced variable levels of IL-3/GM-CSF from the T cell clones. APC-derived costimulation dramatically enhanced IL-3/GM-CSF; the cells which produced high levels in response to ionomycin alone were not detectably costimulating each other. Interestingly, PGE2 enhanced IL-3/GM-CSF (and IL-3 alone in at least some cases) from cells stimulated with ionomycin alone, demonstrating that the mode of stimulation affects the PGE2-responsiveness. Addition of APC not only enhanced lymphokine production, but also altered the PGE2-responsiveness of the Th1 cells. In these cells, PGE2 either inhibited IL-3 and GM-CSF production or had no effect, in no case was the lymphokine production enhanced by PGE2 as it had been with ionomycin alone. These data indicate that the presence of APC-derived costimulatory signals can alter the effect of PGE2 on Th cell lymphokine production.