T cells undergo rapid ON/OFF but not ON/OFF/ON cycling of cytokine production in response to antigen.

Inflammatory cytokines such as IFN-gamma and TNF produced by Ag-stimulated CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells are important in defense against microbial infection. However, production of these cytokines must be tightly regulated to prevent immunopathology. Previous studies, conducted with BALB/c mice, have suggested that 1) CD8(+) T cells maintain IFN-gamma production but transiently produce TNF in the continued presence of Ag and 2) lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus-specific and in vitro-propagated effector CD8(+) T cells could rapidly cycle IFN-gamma production ON/OFF/ON in response to Ag exposure, removal, and re-exposure. In contrast with CD8(+) T cells, our results show that Listeria monocytogenes-specific CD4(+) T cells from C57BL/6 mice rapidly initiate (ON cycling) and maintain production of both IFN-gamma and TNF in the continued presence of Ag. Upon Ag removal, production of both cytokines rapidly ceases (OFF cycling). However, if the initial stimulation was maximal, Ag-specific CD4(+) T cells were unable to reinitiate cytokine production after a second Ag exposure. Furthermore, L. monocytogenes-specific CD8(+) T cells in the same mice and lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus-specific CD8(+) T cells in BALB/c mice also underwent ON/OFF cycling, but if the initial Ag stimulus was maximal, they could not produce IFN-gamma after Ag re-exposure. As the initial Ag dose was reduced, the number of cells producing cytokine in response to the second Ag exposure exhibited a corresponding increase. However, T cells that were marked for IFN-gamma secretion during the first stimulation did not contribute cytokine production during the second stimulation. Thus, T cells are not able to undergo rapid ON/OFF/ON cytokine cycling in vitro in response to Ag.