IFN-γ regulates murine interferon-inducible T cell alpha chemokine (I-TAC) expression in dendritic cell lines and during experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE)

Murine interferon-inducible T cell alpha chemokine (I-TAC) is a potent non-ELR Cys-X-Cys (CXC) chemokine that predominantly attracts activated T lymphocytes and binds to the receptor CXCR3. Using semiquantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) we analysed murine I-TAC expression in two different progenitor dendritic cell (DC) lines, MTHC-D2 and JAWS II which were exposed to various cytokines, and Con A-activated splenocytes from a panel of knockout mice. Analysis of the progenitor DC lines and Con A cultures demonstrated that murine I-TAC is primarily regulated by interferon (IFN)-γ via interferon regulatory factor (IRF)-1. It has been proposed that I-TAC may have a role in autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). Because I-TAC appears to be secreted from antigen-presenting cells (APCs) and attracts activated T cells, we examined the level of murine I-TAC mRNA in the central nervous system (CNS) of wild-type and IFN-γ-receptor knockout (IFN-γR^-/-) mice with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG)_35-55 peptide-induced experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Peak I-TAC expression was detected in wild-type mice on day 14 when the mice begin to recover, whereas very low levels of I-TAC were detected in the CNS of IFN-γR^-/- mice which develop severe EAE and die. The expression characteristics of murine I-TAC suggest an important mediator of immune cell communication that could augment vaccines and autoimmune therapies.