Interleukin-2-dependent regulation of Na/K pump in human lymphocytes

The present study provides the first evidence that the abundance of catalytic alpha1-subunit of Na,K-ATPase increases in the course of T cell blast transformation. Immunodepressant cyclosporin A at anti-proliferative doses diminished the induction of alpha1 protein in activated lymphocytes. Furthermore, in competent T cells, IL-2 increases both the transport activity of Na/K pump and the content of Na,K-ATPase alpha1 protein in a time-dependent manner. A correlation was found between the long-term elevation in ouabain-sensitive Rb influxes and the increase in alpha1 protein content in late activated T cells. These results suggest that (1) the increased expression of Na,K-ATPase proteins underlie the cell cycle-dependent upregulation of ion pump during T cell transformation, and (2) IL-2 is involved in the regulated expression of Na,K-ATPase in human lymphocytes.