Interleukin 4 (IL-4) or IL-7 Prevents the Death of Resting T Cells: Stat6 Is Probably Not Required for the Effect of IL-4

Although much is known about the activation, proliferation, and function of CD4⁺ T cells, little is known about how they survive as resting T cells in animals. Resting T cells have a half-life in animals of more than a week; however, when they are removed from animals and placed in tissue culture their half-life falls to ∼24 h. In this paper, we show that the survival of resting T cells in vitro is promoted by two cytokines, interleukins 4 and 7 (IL-4, IL-7). They may do this in part by maintaining levels of survival-promoting proteins such as Bcl-2 in the cells, because the levels of Bcl-2 and Bcl-X_l in resting T cells fall rapidly after the cells are isolated from animals, and are maintained by culture in IL-4. Because the IL-4 receptor is known to signal through the JAK1 and JAK3/Stat6 pathway, we tested whether Stat6 was required for IL-4– dependent T cell survival. Surprisingly, we found that IL-4 rescued T cells from apoptosis in what appeared to be a Stat6-independent manner. These results demonstrate that the survival of resting T cells is an active process that can be affected by signals delivered by cytokines and also suggest that the IL-4 receptor on resting T cells may use a novel signaling pathway to facilitate T cell viability.