Regulatory T cells have been well described and the factors regulating their development and function have been identified. Recently, a growing body of evidence has documented the existence of interleukin-10 (IL-10) -producing B cells, which are called regulatory B10 cells. These cells attenuate autoimmune, inflammatory and transplantation reactions, and the main mechanism of their inhibitory action is the production of IL-10. We show that the production of IL-10 by lipopolysaccharide-stimulated B cells is significantly enhanced by IL-12 and interferon-γ and negatively regulated by IL-21 and transforming growth factor-β. In addition, exogenous IL-10 also inhibits B-cell proliferation and the expression of the IL-10 gene in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated B cells. The negative autoregulation of IL-10 production is supported by the observation that the inclusion of anti-IL-10 receptor monoclonal antibody enhances IL-10 production and the proliferation of activated B cells. The effects of cytokines on IL-10 production by B10 cells did not correlate with their effects on B-cell proliferation or on IL-10 production by T cells or macrophages. The cytokine-induced changes in IL-10 production occurred on the level of IL-10 gene expression, as confirmed by increased or decreased IL-10 mRNA expression in the presence of a particular cytokine. The regulatory cytokines modulate the number of IL-10-producing cells rather than augmenting or decreasing the secretion of IL-10 on a single-cell level. Altogether these data show that the production of IL-10 by B cells is under the strict regulatory control of cytokines and that individual cytokines differentially regulate the development and activity of regulatory T cells and IL-10-producing regulatory B cells.

• Keywords
• B cells, autoregulation, cytokines, immunosuppression, interleukin-10 production,
• MeSH
• Lymphocyte Activation MeSH
• Cell Differentiation * drug effects   MeSH
• Cytokines genetics   metabolism   MeSH
• Homeostasis MeSH
• Interferon-gamma metabolism   MeSH
• Interleukin-10 genetics   metabolism   MeSH
• Cells, Cultured MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Lipopolysaccharides pharmacology   MeSH
• RNA, Messenger metabolism   MeSH
• Mice, Inbred C57BL MeSH
• Mice MeSH
• Cell Proliferation MeSH
• Gene Expression Regulation MeSH
• B-Lymphocytes, Regulatory drug effects   immunology   metabolism   MeSH
• T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory immunology   metabolism   MeSH
• Recombinant Proteins metabolism   MeSH
• Signal Transduction MeSH
• Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha metabolism   MeSH
• Transforming Growth Factor beta1 metabolism   MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Humans MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Mice MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Cytokines MeSH
• IFNG protein, human MeSH Browser
• IL10 protein, mouse MeSH Browser
• Interferon-gamma MeSH
• Interleukin-10 MeSH
• Lipopolysaccharides MeSH
• RNA, Messenger MeSH
• Recombinant Proteins MeSH
• TGFB1 protein, human MeSH Browser
• Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha MeSH
• Transforming Growth Factor beta1 MeSH