Interleukin-2 and interleukin-4 increase the survival of retinal ganglion cells in culture.

Abstract

Natural cell death is a degenerative phenomenon observed during the normal development of the nervous system. The neuroprotective effects of cytokines produced by neuronal, glial or infiltrating cells on neurons have been extensively studied. In this work we studied the role of interleukin (IL)-2 and IL-4 on the survival of retinal ganglion cells (RGC) after 48 h in culture. Our results demonstrate that the effect of both ILs was dose-dependent and the treatment with either IL-2 (50 U/ml) or IL-4 (5 U/ml) induced a 2-fold increase in RGC survival. The effect of IL-4, but not of IL-2, was totally abolished by either 20 microM 5-fluoro-2'-deoxyuridine, an inhibitor of cell proliferation, or by 1 microM telenzepine, an inhibitor of M1 muscarinic receptor. Our results suggest that both cytokines could play an important role during the development of retinal tissue as well as during retina trauma.