Activated Murine B Lymphocytes and Dendritic Cells Produce a Novel CC Chemokine which Acts Selectively on Activated T Cells

Genes were isolated using the suppression subtractive hybridization method by stimulation of pro/pre B cells with anti-CD40 and interleukin (IL)-4 to mature Sμ-Sε–switched cells. One of the strongly upregulated genes encodes a novel murine CC chemokine we have named ABCD-1. The ABCD-1 gene has three exons separated by 1.2- and 2.7-kb introns. It gives rise to a 2.2-kb transcript containing an open reading frame of 276 nucleotides. Two polyadenylation sites are used, giving rise to cDNAs with either 1550 or 1850 bp of 3′ untranslated regions. The open reading frame encodes a 24 amino acid–long leader peptide and a 68 amino acid–long mature protein with a predicted molecular mass of 7.8 kD. ABCD-1 mRNA is found in highest quantities in activated splenic B lymphocytes and dendritic cells. Little chemokine mRNA is present in lung, in unstimulated splenic cells, in thymocytes, and in lymph node cells. No ABCD-1 mRNA is detected in bone marrow, liver, kidney, or brain, in peritoneal exudate cells as well as in the majority of all unstimulated B lineage cells tested. It is also undetectable in Concanavalin A–activated/IL-2–restimulated splenic T cells, and in bone marrow–derived IL-2–indu