Does thalidomide affect IL-2 response and production?
Bone Marrow Transplantation Program, Stanford University Medical Center, CA 94305, USA. The exact mechanism of immunosuppression by thalidomide is poorly understood. A common denominator in the pathogenesis of graft-vs.-host disease, graft rejection, reactional lepromatous leprosy, and autoimmune disorders modulated by thalidomide is the activation of T lymphocytes culminating in the synthesis of interleukin-2 (IL-2), the expression of high-affinity IL-2 receptors, and the induction of proliferation. We investigated the effect of thalidomide on the production of IL-2 by the human leukemia cell line Jurkat through induction of IL-2 gene enhancer activity and through the presence of IL-2 in supernatants. beta-galactosidase activity, encoded by a reporter lac z construct and controlled by a transcription factor in thalidomide-treated PMA- and ionomycin-stimulated Jurkat cells, was similar (97 +/- 1.33%; p > 0.1) to non-thalidomide-treated controls at all drug concentrations tested. IL-2 e
