RECOMBINANT VACCINIA VIRUSES EXPRESSING INTERLEUKIN-5 STIMULATE AN EARLIER APPEARANCE OF ANTIBODY-SECRETING CELLS IN THE LUNG

Interleukin-5 (IL-5) is a cytokine that participates in the regulation of antibody secretion, in particular promoting the secretion of IgA a t mucosal sites. In this report, recombinant vaccinia viruses expressi ng IL-5 have been inoculated into mice and the appearance of antibody- secreting cells in the spleen and lungs investigated. Although vaccini a virus-expressed IL-5 did not increase the level of IgA in serum, ant ibody-secreting cells, measured in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot assay, appeared earlier in lungs when the immunizing virus expressed IL-5. These early B cells secreted either IgM or IgG(1).