Regulation of IgA production by naturally occurring TNF/iNOS-producing dendritic cells

Immunoglobulin-A has an irreplaceable role in the mucosal defence against infectious microbes. In human and mouse, IgA-producing plasma cells comprise approximately 20% of total plasma cells of peripheral lymphoid tissues, whereas more than 80% of plasma cells produce IgA in mucosa-associated lymphoid tissues (MALT). One of the most biologically important and long-standing questions in immunology is why this 'biased' IgA synthesis takes place in the MALT but not other lymphoid organs. Here we show that IgA class-switch recombination (CSR) is impaired in inducible-nitric-oxide-synthase-deficient (iNOS-/-; gene also called Nos2) mice. iNOS regulates the T-cell-dependent IgA CSR through expression of transforming growth factor-beta receptor, and the T-cell-independent IgA CSR through production of a proliferation-inducing ligand (APRIL, also called Tnfsf13) and a B-cell-activating factor of the tumour necrosis factor (TNF) family (BAFF, also called Tnfsf13b). Notably, iNOS is preferentially expressed in MALT dendritic cells in response to the recognition of commensal bacteria by toll-like receptor. Furthermore, adoptive transfer of iNOS+ dendritic cells rescues IgA production in iNOS-/- mice. Further analysis revealed that the MALT dendritic cells are a TNF-alpha/iNOS-producing dendritic-cell subset, originally identified in mice infected with Listeria monocytogenes. The presence of a naturally occurring TNF-alpha/iNOS-producing dendritic-cell subset may explain the predominance of IgA production in the MALT, critical for gut homeostasis.     

Goblet cells deliver luminal antigen to CD103+ dendritic cells in the small intestine

The intestinal immune system is exposed to a mixture of foreign antigens from diet, commensal flora and potential pathogens. Understanding how pathogen-specific immunity is elicited while avoiding inappropriate responses to the background of innocuous antigens is essential for understanding and treating intestinal infections and inflammatory diseases. The ingestion of protein antigen can induce oral tolerance, which is mediated in part by a subset of intestinal dendritic cells (DCs) that promote the development of regulatory T cells. The lamina propria (LP) underlies the expansive single-cell absorptive villous epithelium and contains a large population of DCs (CD11c(+) CD11b(+) MHCII(+) cells) comprised of two predominant subsets: CD103(+) CX(3)CR1(-) DCs, which promote IgA production, imprint gut homing on lymphocytes and induce the development of regulatory T cells, and CD103(-) CX(3)CR1(+) DCs (with features of macrophages), which promote tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) production, colitis, and the development of T(H)17 T cells. However, the mechanisms by which different intestinal LP-DC subsets capture luminal antigens in vivo remains largely unexplored. Using a minimally disruptive in vivo imaging approach we show that in the steady state, small intestine goblet cells (GCs) function as passages delivering low molecular weight soluble antigens from the intestinal lumen to underlying CD103(+) LP-DCs. The preferential delivery of antigens to DCs with tolerogenic properties implies a key role for this GC function in intestinal immune homeostasis.     

Extraintestinal dissemination of Salmonella by CD18-expressing phagocytes.

Specialized epithelia known as M cells overlying the lymphoid follicles of Peyer's patches are important in the mucosal immune system, but also provide a portal of entry for pathogens such as Salmonella typhimurium, Mycobacterium bovis, Shigella flexneri, Yersinia enterocolitica and reoviruses. Penetration of intestinal M cells and epithelial cells by Salmonella typhimurium requires the invasion genes of Salmonella Pathogenicity Island 1 (SPI1). SPI1-deficient S. typhimurium strains gain access to the spleen following oral administration and cause lethal infection in mice without invading M cells or localizing in Peyer's patches, which indicates that Salmonella uses an alternative strategy to disseminate from the gastrointestinal tract. Here we report that Salmonella is transported from the gastrointestinal tract to the bloodstream by CD18-expressing phagocytes, and that CD18-deficient mice are resistant to dissemination of Salmonella to the liver and spleen after oral administration. This CD18-dependent pathway of extraintestinal dissemination may be important for the development of systemic immunity to gastrointestinal pathogens, because oral challenge with SPI1-deficient S. typhimurium elicits a specific systemic IgG humoral immune response, despite an inability to stimulate production of specific mucosal IgA.     

Induction of a novel epidermal growth factor-secreting cell lineage by mucosal ulceration in human gastrointestinal stem cells

Epidermal growth factor, and its human homologue urogastrone (EGF/URO), are secreted by the gut-associated salivary and Brunner's glands. Recombinant EGF/URO is a powerful stimulator of cell proliferation and differentiation in the rodent and neonatal human intestine. But EGF/URO is not absorbed from the adult gut and has no action when given through the gut lumen; thus the role of secreted EGF/URO is unknown. We now report that ulceration of the epithelium anywhere in the human gastrointestinal tract induces the development of a novel cell lineage from gastrointestinal stem cells. This lineage initially appears as a bud from the base of intestinal crypts, adjacent to the ulcer, and grows locally as a tubule, ramifying to form a new small gland, and ultimately emerges onto the mucosal surface. The lineage produces neutral mucin, shows a unique lectin-binding profile and immunophenotype, is nonproliferative, and contains and secretes abundant immunoreactive EGF/URO. We propose that all gastrointestinal stem cells can produce this cell lineage after mucosal ulceration, secreting EGF/URO to stimulate cell proliferation, regeneration and ulcer healing. This cell lineage is very commonly associated with gastrointestinal mucosal ulceration, and we conclude that a principal in vivo role for EGF/URO is to stimulate ulcer healing throughout the gut through induction of this cell lineage in the adjacent mucosa.     

Extrathymically generated regulatory T cells control mucosal TH2 inflammation

A balance between pro- and anti-inflammatory mechanisms at mucosal interfaces, which are sites of constitutive exposure to microbes and non-microbial foreign substances, allows for efficient protection against pathogens yet prevents adverse inflammatory responses associated with allergy, asthma and intestinal inflammation. Regulatory T (T(reg)) cells prevent systemic and tissue-specific autoimmunity and inflammatory lesions at mucosal interfaces. These cells are generated in the thymus (tT(reg) cells) and in the periphery (induced (i)T(reg) cells), and their dual origin implies a division of labour between tT(reg) and iT(reg) cells in immune homeostasis. Here we show that a highly selective blockage in differentiation of iT(reg) cells in mice did not lead to unprovoked multi-organ autoimmunity, exacerbation of induced tissue-specific autoimmune pathology, or increased pro-inflammatory responses of T helper 1 (T(H)1) and T(H)17 cells. However, mice deficient in iT(reg) cells spontaneously developed pronounced T(H)2-type pathologies at mucosal sites--in the gastrointestinal tract and lungs--with hallmarks of allergic inflammation and asthma. Furthermore, iT(reg)-cell deficiency altered gut microbial communities. These results suggest that whereas T(reg) cells generated in the thymus appear sufficient for control of systemic and tissue-specific autoimmunity, extrathymic differentiation of T(reg) cells affects commensal microbiota composition and serves a distinct, essential function in restraint of allergic-type inflammation at mucosal interfaces.     

元宝枫叶黄酮抑制脂多糖诱导的小胶质细胞激活的作用

 探讨枫叶黄酮对脂多糖(Lipopolysaccharide,LPS)诱导的小胶质细胞株BV-2细胞炎性因子释放的抑制作用.用LPS刺激BV-2细胞构建炎症模型,采用免疫荧光双标和RT-PCR方法检测不同浓度枫叶黄酮(5,10,15μmol/L)对细胞炎性蛋白酶诱导型一氧化氮合酶(inducible nitric oxide synthase,iNOS)和环氧合酶-2 (cyclooxygenase-2,COX-2)、细胞炎性因子肿瘤坏死因子-α(tumor necrosis factor-α,TNF-α)和白介素-1β (interleukin-1β,IL-1β)、炎性信号蛋白核因子-κB(nuclear factor-κB,NF-κB)蛋白与mRNA的表达变化.结果发现:不同浓度的枫叶黄酮在翻译水平和转录水平上明显抑制了LPS诱导的细胞炎性蛋白酶iNOS和COX-2,细胞炎性因子TNF-α和IL-1β与炎性信号蛋白NF-κB的上调.上述结果表明枫叶黄酮可通过调控LPS诱导的小胶质细胞株BV-2细胞炎性因子释放从而抑制小胶质细胞激活,发挥抗神经炎症的作用.     

益生菌、肠道菌群与人体健康

 肠道菌群与人体长期互作、共同进化,帮助宿主消化吸收食物中的营养物质、代谢宿主肠道中产生的有毒废物,同时产生人体必需的氨基酸、维生素、短链脂肪酸等功能物质为宿主所用。肠道菌群紊乱将导致诸如糖尿病、肠易激综合征等多种人体疾病的发生。因此,维护健康的肠道菌群平衡状态对维持机体健康十分关键。益生菌可以调节人体肠道菌群结构、抑制致病菌在肠道中的定殖,同时帮助宿主建立健康的肠黏膜保护层,增强肠道屏障作用,增强宿主的免疫系统。本文综述了乳酸菌、益生菌、人体肠道菌群的研究进展,论述了中国人群的肠道菌群特征,分析了基因型与饮食对肠道菌群的影响,指出了肠道菌群领域的研究热点及发展趋势。     

Pluripotency of mesenchymal stem cells derived from adult marrow

We report here that cells co-purifying with mesenchymal stem cells--termed here multipotent adult progenitor cells or MAPCs--differentiate, at the single cell level, not only into mesenchymal cells, but also cells with visceral mesoderm, neuroectoderm and endoderm characteristics in vitro. When injected into an early blastocyst, single MAPCs contribute to most, if not all, somatic cell types. On transplantation into a non-irradiated host, MAPCs engraft and differentiate to the haematopoietic lineage, in addition to the epithelium of liver, lung and gut. Engraftment in the haematopoietic system as well as the gastrointestinal tract is increased when MAPCs are transplanted in a minimally irradiated host. As MAPCs proliferate extensively without obvious senescence or loss of differentiation potential, they may be an ideal cell source for therapy of inherited or degenerative diseases.     

Abrogation of oral tolerance by contrasuppressor T cells suggests the presence of regulatory T-cell networks in the mucosal immune system

Continuous ingestion of a thymus-dependent (TD) antigen differentially affects two compartments of the immune system. A secretory IgA antibody response is induced in mucosal tissues, concurrent with a state of antigen-specific systemic unresponsiveness to parenteral challenge, termed oral tolerance. The precise mechanisms whereby gut antigenic exposure induces oral tolerance are unknown, although T-suppressor cells, anti-idiotypic networks and immune complex formation have all been proposed. Here we show that the systemic unresponsiveness of mice made orally tolerant to the TD antigen sheep red blood cells (SRBC) is reversed by the adoptive transfer of Lyt-1+,2-, Vicia villosa lectin-adherent and I-J+ T cells derived from mice which are genetically resistant to the induction of oral tolerance to SRBC. This T-cell subpopulation has the characteristics of contrasuppressor effector T cells (Tcs). Small numbers of these Tcs cells reverse SRBC-specific tolerance both in vivo and in vitro. This finding offers new insight into the mechanisms of oral tolerance induction and maintenance, and suggests that a network of T cells are involved in the regulation of host responses to ingested antigens.     

A microbial symbiosis factor prevents intestinal inflammatory disease

Humans are colonized by multitudes of commensal organisms representing members of five of the six kingdoms of life; however, our gastrointestinal tract provides residence to both beneficial and potentially pathogenic microorganisms. Imbalances in the composition of the bacterial microbiota, known as dysbiosis, are postulated to be a major factor in human disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease. We report here that the prominent human symbiont Bacteroides fragilis protects animals from experimental colitis induced by Helicobacter hepaticus, a commensal bacterium with pathogenic potential. This beneficial activity requires a single microbial molecule (polysaccharide A, PSA). In animals harbouring B. fragilis not expressing PSA, H. hepaticus colonization leads to disease and pro-inflammatory cytokine production in colonic tissues. Purified PSA administered to animals is required to suppress pro-inflammatory interleukin-17 production by intestinal immune cells and also inhibits in vitro reactions in cell cultures. Furthermore, PSA protects from inflammatory disease through a functional requirement for interleukin-10-producing CD4+ T cells. These results show that molecules of the bacterial microbiota can mediate the critical balance between health and disease. Harnessing the immunomodulatory capacity of symbiosis factors such as PSA might potentially provide therapeutics for human inflammatory disorders on the basis of entirely novel biological principles.     

茶叶糖蛋白对RAW264.7细胞分泌作用的影响

本文研究利用小鼠巨噬细胞建立体外实验模型,对茶叶糖蛋白(TGP)的免疫活性进行研究。采用倒置显微镜观察细胞形态变化。Griess法和ELISA法检测不同剂量茶叶糖蛋白对RAW264.7细胞一氧化氮(NO)和细胞因子TNF-α、IL-1β分泌量的影响。结果表明:50μg/mL茶叶糖蛋白可显著促进细胞分泌一氧化氮和细胞因子TNF-α、IL-1β(p<0.01),说明茶叶糖蛋白可通过促进细胞分泌一氧化氮和细胞因子,起到活化RAW264.7细胞和调节机体免疫的功效。     

Epithelial-cell-intrinsic IKK-beta expression regulates intestinal immune homeostasis

Intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) provide a primary physical barrier against commensal and pathogenic microorganisms in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, but the influence of IECs on the development and regulation of immunity to infection is unknown. Here we show that IEC-intrinsic IkappaB kinase (IKK)-beta-dependent gene expression is a critical regulator of responses of dendritic cells and CD4+ T cells in the GI tract. Mice with an IEC-specific deletion of IKK-beta show a reduced expression of the epithelial-cell-restricted cytokine thymic stromal lymphopoietin in the intestine and, after infection with the gut-dwelling parasite Trichuris, fail to develop a pathogen-specific CD4+ T helper type 2 (T(H)2) response and are unable to eradicate infection. Further, these animals show exacerbated production of dendritic-cell-derived interleukin-12/23p40 and tumour necrosis factor-alpha, increased levels of CD4+ T-cell-derived interferon-gamma and interleukin-17, and develop severe intestinal inflammation. Blockade of proinflammatory cytokines during Trichuris infection ablates the requirement for IKK-beta in IECs to promote CD4+ T(H)2 cell-dependent immunity, identifying an essential function for IECs in tissue-specific conditioning of dendritic cells and limiting type 1 cytokine production in the GI tract. These results indicate that the balance of IKK-beta-dependent gene expression in the intestinal epithelium is crucial in intestinal immune homeostasis by promoting mucosal immunity and limiting chronic inflammation.     

Mucosal mast cells are functionally active during spontaneous expulsion of intestinal nematode infections in rat

Infestation of the gastrointestinal tract by parasitic nematodes is invariably associated with mucosal mastocytosis, which is a thymus-dependent phenomenon in parasitized rats, and is adoptively transferable with a T cell-enriched population of thoracic duct lymphocytes. When derived by in vitro culture, mucosal mast cells (MMC) arise from a bone marrow precursor after stimulation by T cell-derived factors. In rats infected with the nematode Trichinella spiralis, mucosal mastocytosis is temporally associated with the immune expulsion of the adult worms whereas in the case of Nippostrongylus brasiliensis, mastocytosis is frequently observed to occur after worm expulsion has been completed. Consequently, there has been doubt as to whether MMC are active and serve a functional role in the expulsion of rat intestinal nematodes. MMC contain and secrete a neutral proteinase, rat mast cell protease II (RMCP II); detection and assay of secreted RMCP II therefore provides a direct measurement of MMC activity. Here we describe the release of this enzyme into the blood of rats infected with N. brasiliensis or T. spiralis. Our results show that the systemic secretion of RMCP II coincides with the immune expulsion of these nematodes, demonstrating clearly for the first time that rat MMC are functionally active during the immune elimination of primary nematode infections.     

分泌型IgA在黏膜抗感染中的作用

分泌型IgA(sIgA)作为黏膜免疫系统的效应分子在呼吸道、胃肠道和泌尿生殖道的黏膜抗感染中发挥重要作用.其抗感染机制可能和阻止病毒吸附、凝集细菌、溶解细菌、调理吞噬和ADCC作用有关.检测sIgA有助于呼吸道、胃肠道和泌尿生殖道感染的诊断和治疗.     

开口箭醇提物抗慢性咽炎活性研究

观察开口箭醇提物治疗慢性咽炎的大鼠血清IL-1β及TNF-α等指标变化,以进一步探讨其治疗机理.将48只Wistar大鼠随机分为正常组、模型组、开口箭醇提物低、中、高剂量组和阳性组(西瓜霜组),每组8只,采用浓氨水喉头喷雾诱发的大鼠急性咽炎模型,于第40～47天分别用喉头喷雾器给大鼠咽部喷蒸馏水、低剂量开口箭醇提物(0.16g/kg)、中剂量开口箭醇提物(0.24g/kg)、高剂量开口箭醇提物(0.32g/kg)、西瓜霜含片液(1.40g/kg).实验第47d取6组动物的股静脉血检测白细胞和粒细胞数目、IL-1β及TNF-α含量;同时,取咽部粘膜及粘膜下组织分成两份分别进行病理形态学观察.结果显示开口箭醇提物均能有效降低模型大鼠血液白细胞和粒细胞数目、IL-1β及TNF-α含量,改善模型大鼠咽部组织病理形态.说明开口箭醇提物在缓解咽部炎性症状、改善咽部病理组织形态方面,具有独特优势.     

慢性十二指肠炎固有膜炎细胞计数、免疫荧光研究

目的 :探讨非特异性十二指肠炎 (NSD)的病变程度、分级方法及其与十二指肠溃疡病间的关系。方法 :对 6 4例上腹部不适的患者行胃镜检查 ,于十二指肠球部取材活检 ,进行固有膜炎症细胞计数及应用间接免疫荧光染色技术检测IgA、IgG在NSD粘膜中的分布。结果 :根据病变的程度 ,NSD被分为正常及轻、中、重三级 (0～Ⅲ )。炎细胞总数Ⅰ～Ⅲ级分别明显高于对照组 (0级 )。除Ⅰ级和浆细胞计数外 ,Ⅱ～Ⅲ级同 0级相比 ,统计学上差异有显著性 ;免疫荧光IgA、IgG在 0～Ⅲ级均有表达 ,IgA强度稍高。一例Ⅲ级病变 ,IgA、IgG均为阴性。结论 :本文研究结果显示 ,NSD是由多种病因引起的一种独立性的疾病 ,如果致病因素持续存在 ,NSD将在上皮糜烂、坏死脱落的基础上发展成十二指肠球部溃疡病     

Immunolocalization of aromatase, estrogen and estrogen receptor α and β in the epithelium of digestive tract and enteric neurons of amphioxus (Branchiostoma belcheri )

Immunohistochemical localization of aromatase, estrogen and estrogen receptor in the digestive tract and enteric neurons of amphioxus is investigated. It was found that immunoreactive proteins of aromatase, estrogen and ER-α and β are expressed in hepatic diverticulum, epithelial cells of anterior and posterior region of midgut, as well as in enteric neurons, while hindgut showed immunonegative. The results suggest that digestive tract of amphioxus may be able to synthesize estrogen and possess endocrine function, like rat gastric epithelium and enteric neurons in mammals. The present study provides authentic morphological evidence for explaining the action mechanism of estrogen in regulating the digestive function of gut and the functional evolution of estrogen, which has important theoretical significance in amphioxus.