Interferon-gamma inhibits the proliferation but not the differentiation of murine B cells in response to IL-5.

Interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) is supposed to be produced by type 1 helper T cells (TH1) and inhibits IL-4-dependent B cell growth and differentiation. IL-5 (T cell-replacing factor, TRF), is a T cell-derived lymphokine which is predominantly produced by type 2 helper T cells (TH2) and regulates proliferation and differentiation of activated B cells. In this study, the effect of IFN-gamma on IL-5-dependent B cell growth and differentiation has been studied using murine chronic B cell leukemic cells (BCL1), normal splenic B cells, and cloned early B cell line. IFN-gamma selectively inhibits the IL-5-mediated proliferation of activated B cells as well as cloned early B cell lines at a low concentration (2 U/ml) in which polyclonal IgM production was not affected. This inhibitory effect of IFN-gamma occurs within 24 h after the onset of culture, as demonstrated by the inability of antibody to IFN-gamma to reverse totally the IFN-gamma-mediated suppressive effects if it was added later than 24 h after the onset of the culture. On the contrary, IL-5-mediated IgM secretion of BCL1 and IgA formation of LPS-stimulated normal B cells were relatively resistant to the suppressive effect of IFN-gamma. IFN-gamma does not affect the receptor expression for IL-5. Interestingly, IL-4-mediated IgG1 formation of LPS-stimulated B cells was markedly suppressed by IFN-gamma at 10 U/ml. These results strongly suggest that IFN-gamma may have differential effects on IL-5-mediated B cell triggering.