Activation of interleukin-13 expression in T cells from HTLV-1-infected individuals and in chronically infected cell lines

Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) infection profoundly alters T-cell gene expression, and the dysregulated synthesis of cytokines could influence the course and pathologic consequences of infection. In the process of screening T-cell lines for T helper 1 (Th1) and Th2 cytokine mRNAs, we observed that interleukin-13 (IL-13) mRNA was highly expressed in HTLV-1-infected, IL-2-dependent T-cell lines. IL-9 and interferon gamma (IFN-γ) mRNAs were also expressed at high levels in chronically infected cell lines. IL-5 mRNA was detected in 60% of the HTLV-1-infected cell lines, but mRNAs for IL-4, IL-10, IL-2, and IL-15 were either below detection limits or did not correlate with HTLV-1 infection. Transcriptional activation of the IL-13 promoter by the HTLV-1 Tax trans-regulatory protein was demonstrated in Jurkat T cells transiently transfected with an IL-13 promoter-reporter plasmid. The clinical relevance of these observations was demonstrated by immunofluorescent staining and flow cytometry of lymphocytes obtained from HTLV-1-infected patients. These studies revealed that IL-13 production was directly related to the level of Tax expression in the infected CD4+ T cells soon after in vitro culture. As IL-13 plays key roles in tumor immunosurveillance, asthma, and central nervous system inflammation, it may contribute to the pathophysiology of HTLV-1-associated diseases. (Blood. 2003;102:4130-4136)