Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 31 March 2006:
Vol. 311. no. 5769, p. 1832
DOI: 10.1126/science.311.5769.1832k
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

This Week in Science

The cytokine interleukin-2 (IL-2) facilitates proliferation of naïve T cells, but several studies have shown that antibodies that bind IL-2, which at first glance should be inhibitory, can promote the expansion of subsets of memory CD8 T cells. Thus, IL-2 somehow might inhibit suppressive T cell populations that would otherwise prevent memory CD8 T cell expansion. Boyman et al. (p. 1924, published online 16 February; see the Perspective by Prlic and Bevan) now show that instead, binding of antibodies to IL-2 augments the direct activity of the cytokine on memory CD8 T cells themselves. Immune complexes form that focus local levels of IL-2 through presentation by Fc receptors. These observations could be important to consider in therapies that involve the manipulation of IL-2 and other cytokines, such as bone marrow transplantation and tumor immunotherapy.




To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)