Glycosylphosphatidylinositol: A Candidate System for Interleukin-2 Signal Transduction

The mechanism of interleukin-2 (IL-2) signal transduction was analyzed by use of an inducible B lymphoma. Like normal antigen-activated B lymphocytes, the lymphoma cells respond to IL-2 by proliferating and differentiating into antibody-secreting cells; both responses are blocked by a second interleukin, IL-4. Analyses of the signaling pathway showed that IL-2 stimulated the rapid hydrolysis of an inositol-containing glycolipid to yield two possible second messengers, a myristylated diacylglycerol and an inositol phosphate-glycan. The myristylated diacylglycerol response exhibited the same IL-2 dose dependence as the growth and differentiative responses, and the generation of both hydrolysis products was inhibited by IL-4. These correlations implicate the glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol system in the intracellular relay of the IL-2 signal.