Involvement of a common transcription factor in the regulated expression of IL-2 and IL-2 receptor genes.

Interleukin-2 (IL-2) plays an essential role in the clonal expansion of antigen-activated T lymphocytes (T cells). In fact, the expression of both IL-2 and IL-2 receptor (IL-2R, p55, CD25) genes is transiently induced upon T cell activation through the interaction of antigen/major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and T cell receptor complex. To elucidate the mechanism(s) of the induced gene expression for IL-2 and IL-2R, we have investigated for the presence of potential transcription factors that specifically interact with regulatory cis-elements. Here, we demonstrate that one such factor mediates the induced expression of both genes. Interestingly, the recognition sequences by this factor are significantly diverse in these two genes and are related to those of immunoglobulin (Ig) kappa chain and MHC class I genes. We provide evidence that this factor indeed binds to the IL-2, IL-2R, and Ig sequence elements with different affinities, thereby affecting the magnitude of gene expression. Interestingly, this factor also binds to other cytokine genes, such as interleukin-6 (IL-6), interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), and HIV-1 and HTLV-1 LTR sequences.