The Effect of IL-2 and IL-15 on the Viability of IL-15 KO and B6 Wild Type Mice
School Name
Governor's School for Science & Mathematics
Grade Level
12th Grade
Presentation Topic
Cell and Molecular Biology
Presentation Type
Mentored
Abstract
Interlukin-2(IL-2) and Interlukin-15(IL-15) both play a critical role in the growth and activation of T-Cells since they are cytokines, growth factors for T-cells. To activate the T-cell IL-2 binds to the cell telling it to activate, afterwards IL-15 comes in giving the activated T-cell a target, which for this research, cancer cells. The goal was to determine was if the absence of IL-15 receptor alpha had any effect on the viability of T-cells in the presence of these cytokines. To do this, we retrieved wild type mice and IL-15 knockout (KO) mice, mice without the Il-15 receptor Alpha, T-cells through sterile spleen processing, and grew them for two days. Afterwards we took them and plated them in the presence of our selected cytokines, and let them grow for two more days. Then we ran flowcytometry, a method of cell examination that uses light wavelengths, and antibody tags to determine attributes of a cell on our cells using Propidium Iodide as our dye. We learned through our results that without the Il-15 receptor Alpha the Knockout mice had a higher viability in the presence of Il-2 than the KO mice. This could have been due to the lack of the IL-15 receptor Alpha converting what would have been Il-15 receptors into Il-2 receptors due to their structural similarities. This information could possibly be used to improve cellular cancer therapy using Il-15 receptor Alpha KO cells to produce many T-cells then modifying them to target cancer cells.
Recommended Citation
Rockwell, Anthony, "The Effect of IL-2 and IL-15 on the Viability of IL-15 KO and B6 Wild Type Mice" (2017). South Carolina Junior Academy of Science. 32.
https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/scjas/2017/all/32
Start Date
3-25-2017 11:59 PM
Presentation Format
Written Only
Group Project
No
The Effect of IL-2 and IL-15 on the Viability of IL-15 KO and B6 Wild Type Mice
Interlukin-2(IL-2) and Interlukin-15(IL-15) both play a critical role in the growth and activation of T-Cells since they are cytokines, growth factors for T-cells. To activate the T-cell IL-2 binds to the cell telling it to activate, afterwards IL-15 comes in giving the activated T-cell a target, which for this research, cancer cells. The goal was to determine was if the absence of IL-15 receptor alpha had any effect on the viability of T-cells in the presence of these cytokines. To do this, we retrieved wild type mice and IL-15 knockout (KO) mice, mice without the Il-15 receptor Alpha, T-cells through sterile spleen processing, and grew them for two days. Afterwards we took them and plated them in the presence of our selected cytokines, and let them grow for two more days. Then we ran flowcytometry, a method of cell examination that uses light wavelengths, and antibody tags to determine attributes of a cell on our cells using Propidium Iodide as our dye. We learned through our results that without the Il-15 receptor Alpha the Knockout mice had a higher viability in the presence of Il-2 than the KO mice. This could have been due to the lack of the IL-15 receptor Alpha converting what would have been Il-15 receptors into Il-2 receptors due to their structural similarities. This information could possibly be used to improve cellular cancer therapy using Il-15 receptor Alpha KO cells to produce many T-cells then modifying them to target cancer cells.
Mentor
Mentor: Mark Rubinstein, Medical University of South Carolina