Leukaemia inhibitory factor (LIF) is functionally linked to axotrophin and both LIF and axotrophin are linked to regulatory immune tolerance

Axotrophin (axot) is a newly characterised stem cell gene and mice that lack axotrophin are viable and fertile, but show premature neural degeneration and defective development of the corpus callosum. By comparing axot(+/+) axot(+/-) and axot(-/-) littermates, we now show that axotrophin is also involved in immune regulation. Both T cell proliferation and T cell-derived leukaemia inhibitory factor (LIF) were suppressed by axotrophin in a gene-dose-dependent manner. Moreover, a role for axotrophin in the feedback regulation of LIF is implicated. This is the first evidence that fate determination mediated by LIF maybe qualified by axotrophin. (C) 2004 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.