Lymphotoxin β Induction in Human Eosinophils Treated with Interleukin 5

Asthma is an inflammatory disease of the airways, which is characterized by increased numbers of eosinopils. A white blood cell, the eosinophil may contribute to the tissue damage, characteristic of asthma. Preliminary data from Dr. Bertics' laboratory using microarrays (analysis of eosinophil gene expression) suggested that eosinophils, stimulated with interleukin 5 (IL-5), express mRNA for lymphotoxin beta (LT- β). Using previously published protocols, we developed an assay for detecting LT-β mRNA. We isolated RNA from eosinophils and observed that LT-β mRNA is induced by IL-5 stimulation. These data suggest that IL-5 stimulates eosinophils to express the gene for LT-β.