Regulation of Cell Growth by IL-2: Role of STAT5 in Protection from Apoptosis But Not in Cell Cycle Progression

Abstract Cytokines play an essential role in the regulation of lymphocyte survival and growth. We have analyzed the pathways activated by IL-2 that lead to protection from apoptosis and cell proliferation. IL-2 can act as a long-term growth factor in 32D cells expressing the wild-type human (hu)IL-2Rβ. By contrast, cells expressing a truncated form of the huIL-2Rβ, which is able to induce Bcl-2 and c-myc expression but not STAT5 activation, were not protected from apoptosis by IL-2; consequently, they could not be grown long term in the presence of IL-2. However, IL-2 promoted cell cycle progression in cells bearing the truncated huIL-2Rβ with percentages of viable cells in the G0/G1, S, and G2/M phases similar to cells expressing the wild-type huIL-2Rβ. Transplantation of a region from the erythropoietin receptor, which contains a docking site for STAT5 (Y343) to the truncated huIL-2Rβ, restored the ability of IL-2 to signal both activation of STAT5 and protection from apoptosis. By contrast, transplantation of a region from the huIL-4Rα containing STAT6 docking sites did not confer protection from apoptosis. These results indicate that the IL-2-induced cell cycle progression can be clearly distinguished from protection from apoptosis and that STAT5 participates in the regulation of apoptosis.