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* Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD 20814;
Immunology Research Division, Department of Pathology, Brigham and Womens Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115; and
Nutrient Requirements and Functions Laboratory, Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, MD 20705
| Abstract |
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| Introduction |
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Many protective Th2 responses to infectious pathogens require B7-1/B7-2
costimulatory molecule interactions for maturation of naive
CD4+ T cells into IL-4-producing Th effector
cells. Previous studies have shown that blocking B7-1/B7-2 ligand
interactions with the chimeric fusion protein CTLA4Ig or anti-B7
Abs inhibits CD4+ Th2 cell differentiation and
the associated cytokine-induced increases in serum IgE and IgG1, after
infection of mice with a number of different parasites including the
gastrointestinal parasites Heligmosomoides polygyrus
(3, 4) and Trichuris muris (5);
the protozoan parasite, Leishmania major (6);
and the nematode parasite Schistosoma mansoni
(7). With several of these pathogens, inhibition of the
IL-4-associated response by B7 blockade is associated with deviation to
a Th1 immune response associated with IFN-
elevations, suggesting
that the Th2 response is more dependent on B7 ligand interactions than
the Th1 response (5, 6, 8). The development of the Th1
response during infectious disease is in many cases triggered by
signaling through pattern recognition receptors, in particular
Toll-like receptors expressed by dendritic cells, which recognize
pathogen-associated molecular patterns that function as microbial
adjuvants (9). In contrast, during infectious disease,
some Th2 responses may develop as "default" responses in the
absence of Toll-like receptor signaling (10, 11, 12, 13, 14), perhaps
partly explaining why Th2 responses are particularly dependent on B7
costimulatory molecule signaling. In addition, a number of studies have
found that the strength of signal through the TCR may also influence
the generation of Th1 and Th2 effector lymphocytes in vivo
(15, 16, 17).
Recent studies indicate that an important exception to the requirement
of B7 interactions for Th2 responses may occur during the
host-protective mucosal immune response to the gastrointestinal
nematode parasite, Nippostrongylus brasiliensis
(Nb).4 This parasite
is a well-defined and widely used model for studying Th2 immune
responses. Parasitic larvae migrate into the lungs where they are
coughed up and swallowed within 2 days after s.c. inoculation of the
infective third-stage larvae (L3). The larvae develop into mature
adults that reside in the intestinal lumen and produce eggs that are
excreted in the feces. All worms are expelled by
10 days after
infection. This acute host-protective primary Th2 response is
associated with increased IgE, and worm expulsion is dependent on
CD4+ T cells producing Th2 cytokines
(18, 19, 20). Surprisingly, CTLA4Ig administration of
Nb-infected mice did not impair Th2 cell-mediated worm expulsion;
however, Th2 cell cytokine production was impaired after in vitro
restimulation (21). In another study, mesenteric lymph
node (MLN) cell suspensions from Nb-infected
CD28-/- mice showed reduced Th2 and Th1
cytokine production after prolonged in vitro restimulation
(22). However, differences have been detected in
costimulatory molecule requirements between T cells restimulated in
vitro and more physiological measurements of T cell cytokine production
and associated host protection (23). The possible
B7-independence of the Th2 immune response to Nb suggested that this
parasite may function as a potent adjuvant to trigger Ag-specific Th2
cell differentiation, although it was also possible that a previously
primed T cell population was cross-reactive with an Nb Ag or,
alternatively, that T cell activation occurred through a
non-Ag-specific mechanism. B cell activation is often polyclonal in
parasite infections (24, 25); however, whether T cell
activation is also polyclonal has not been carefully examined.
The development of the adoptive transfer model in which a small number of CD4+, OVA323339-I-Ad -specific T cells from the DO11.10 TCR-transgenic mouse line are transferred into normal BALB/c recipients, which are then immunized with OVA peptide plus a Th1-inducing adjuvant, such as LPS or CFA, has been widely used to examine Ag-specific naive T cell differentiation and migration in vivo (26, 27). However, this in vivo model has not yet been examined in the context of a Th2 response to determine whether pathogens can also act as adjuvants to trigger naive DO11.10 T cells to differentiate to Th2 cells.
In the studies presented herein, we examined the development of Th2 cells in vivo during Nb infection and the role of B7 interactions in this response. In studies with B7-1/B7-2-/- mice, we found a profound difference between the ability of the differentiated Th2 cells to produce cytokines resulting in worm expulsion and their capacity to provide help for B cell Ab production. Using the aforementioned adoptive transfer model, we determined that Nb can act as an adjuvant which, in the presence of specific Ag, can promote the differentiation of DO11.10 naive nonparasite Ag-specific T cells to Th2 cells even when B7 interactions are blocked.
| Materials and Methods |
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B7-1/B7-2-/- mice (backcrossed for 10 generations) and the DO11.10 TCR-transgenic mice on an inbred BALB/c background were obtained from Dr. A. Sharpe. The DO11.10 mice contain a large population of CD4 T cells that express a TCR specific for chicken OVA323339-I-Ad complexes. This TCR is uniquely recognized by the KJ1-26 anti-clonotypic mAb (28). All the mice were maintained in a specific pathogen-free, virus Ab-free facility during the experiments. The studies reported here conformed to the principle for laboratory animal research outlined by the Animal Welfare Act and the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (National Institutes of Health) guidelines for the experimental use of animals.
Adoptive transfers
Peripheral lymph nodes and spleen were harvested from DO11.10
TCR-transgenic mice that were age and sex matched to the adoptive
transfer recipients. Single-cell suspensions were prepared by pressing
tissue through nylon strainer (BD Biosciences, San Jose, CA).
OVA-specific KJ1-26+ CD4+ T
cells (5 x 106) were injected i.v. into
recipient mice. The number of KJ1-26+ cells
injected was calculated based on multiplying the percentage
of KJ1-26+ CD4+ cells
measured by flow cytometry times the number of live cells obtained. In
some experiments, the DO11.10 T cells were incubated with anti-CD4
beads and were further purified by passing through an
LS+ column (Miltenyi Biotec, Auburn, CA).
Purified CD4+ T cells (with purity of
99% as
determined by FACS) were resuspended at 5 x
107 cell/ml in PBS containing 0.1% BSA. A final
concentration of 10 µM fluorescent dye CFSE (Molecular Probes,
Eugene, OR) was added, and the cells incubated for 10 min at 37°C.
The labeled cells were washed twice in cell culture medium containing
10% FCS (Life Technologies, Gaithersburg, MD) before transfer. In some
cases, parallel experiments were performed with transferred cells from
BALB/c DO11.10 recombination-activating gene-deficient
(RAG2-/-) mice, generously provided by Dr. M.
Jenkins (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN).
Parasite infection, CD4 depletion, and OVA immunization
Mice were inoculated s.c. with infective third-stage Nb (L3). Parasite egg numbers and adult worm numbers were evaluated as described previously (29). In several experiments, CD4 T cells were depleted in vivo by i.v. administration of 1 mg of anti-CD4 mAb (clone GK1.5, purified from ascites) on the day of inoculation. This dose has previously been shown to effectively deplete CD4+ T cells in vivo (30). HPLC-purified OVA323339 with the sequence ISQAVHAAHAEINEAGR-COOH was synthesized by Biomedical Instrumentation Center at Uniformed Services University. In some experiments, third-stage Nb and 30 µg OVA peptide were injected intracutaneously in the ear of DO11.10 T cell transfer recipient mice. In some cases, mice immunized with peptide plus Nb were given i.v. 200 µg of murine CTLA4Ig or control fusion protein L6 on days 0 and 1 after immunization.
Quantitation of serum Igs
Total serum IgE, IgG1, and IgG2a levels were quantitated by ELISA. Ag-specific IgG1 level was measured using a modified ELISA. Briefly, individual wells of Immulon IV plates (Thermo Labsystems, Franklin, MA) were coated with diluted (5 µg/ml) Nb excretory/secretory Ag. After 4°C overnight incubation, 1% FBS plus 0.1% sodium azide was used for blocking. Serum samples were added to the plates in 4-fold serial dilutions and incubated for 2 h at room temperature after blocking. Then anti-mouse IgG1-alkaline phosphatase (Southern Biotechnology Associates, Birmingham, AL; 1/2000 diluted) was added to individual wells, and the plates were incubated for 30 min at room temperature. The substrate (5% 4-methylumbelliferyl phosphate-free acid solution) was then added, and fluorescence of the samples was quantitated using a MicroFLUOR Reader (Dynatech Laboratories, Chantilly, VA).
Immunohistochemical staining
The procedure used for germinal center (GC) staining was as described previously (4). Briefly, 8-µm frozen MLN tissue sections were stained with HRP conjugated to peanut agglutinin (PNA; ICN Biomedicals, Aurora, OH), washed, and then incubated with the peroxidase substrate, 3-amino-9-ethylcarbazole (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO). All photographs of the tissue sections were taken at the same magnification (x125).
Cell sorting and cytokine gene expression by RT-PCR
For sorting, MNL cells were labeled with anti-CD4 beads and passed through LS+ columns (Miltenyi Biotec). The CD4+ and CD4- populations were collected and assessed for purity using FACS analysis. The CD4+ population was >98% pure, and the CD4- population was >95% pure in all sorts described. For RT-PCR, total RNA was extracted from purified cell populations with the RNA Isolation Kit (Stratagene, Cedar Creek, TX), specially developed for isolating small RNA quantities, and from tissue as previously described (31). Total RNA was then reverse transcribed as previously described (31). Real-time PCR kits (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA), specific for individual cytokines or rRNA, were used to quantitate differences in gene expression, and all data were normalized to constitutive rRNA values. The Applied Biosystems 7700 sequence detector was used for amplification of target mRNA, and quantification of differences between treatment groups was calculated according to the manufacturers instructions.
Cell cultures and cytokine secretion
Single-cell suspensions were prepared from the MLN, and cells were placed in RPMI 1640 supplemented with 10% FCS that had been heat-inactivated for 30 min at 57°C, 2 mM glutamine, 100 U/ml penicillin, 100 µg/ml streptomycin, and 10 mM HEPES. The anti-CD3 mAb restimulation assay was based on previously described techniques (32), with some modifications. Briefly, MLN cells (2 x 105 cells/well) from either Nb-infected or uninfected mice were cultured in triplicate wells of 96-well round-bottom plates coated with anti-CD3 mAb (2C11, 10 µg/ml; BD PharMingen, San Diego). After 72 h, the supernatants of each well were collected and stored at -70°C for cytokine production analysis. Cytokine production in the supernatants of cultured cells was measured using commercial ELISA kits (R&D Systems, Minneapolis, MN).
ELISPOT
Two different ELISPOT assays were used. The first was as previously described (3, 33). Briefly, single-cell lymph node suspensions were prepared in RPMI 1640 containing 10% heat-inactivated FCS, 100 U/ml penicillin, 100 µg/ml streptomycin, and 2 mM L-glutamine (all from Life Technologies). Cells (0.5 x 106) were seeded into each well of an anti-IL-4 (clone BVD4-1D11.2, a gift from Dr. Finkelman)-coated Immulon IV 96-well microtiter plate (Microtiter, Chantilly, VA). After short term culture (512 h), the plate was washed several times with PBS followed by washes with PBS-Tween 20. Secondary biotinylated anti-IL-4 Ab was diluted in PBS, 0.05% Tween, 5% FCS; added at 100 µl/well; and incubated overnight at 4°C. Plates were then washed, and a 1/2000 dilution of streptavidin-AKP (Jackson ImmunoResearch, West Grove, PA) was added. Plates were developed, and results were counted as described. The second ELISPOT assay was modified to include the capability to quantitate IL-4-producing cells following in vitro restimulation with OVA peptide. Lymph node cells were cultured with 10 µg/ml OVA peptide for 3 days on anti-IL-4-coated plates, before being washed away with PBS and PBS-Tween. Secondary anti-IL-4 Ab was next added, and subsequent steps were identical with those described for the first ELISPOT assay.
Flow cytometry
Lymph node cells were harvested, and 1 x 106 cells were blocked with Fc Block (BD PharMingen) and then incubated with anti-CD4-Cy-Chrome (BD PharMingen), anti-CD69-PE (BD PharMingen), and KJ1-26-FITC (Caltag Laboratories, Burlingame, CA) or anti-MHCII-PE and anti-B220-FITC (BD PharMingen). After washes, cell were fixed with 1% paraformaldehyde (Fisher, Pittsburgh, PA) and analyzed by flow cytometry using an EPICS XL-MCL (Beckman Coulter, Fullerton, CA). For CFSE-labeled cells, anti-CD4-Cy-Chrome and KJ1-26-PE (Caltag) were used to distinguish the DO11.10 T cells.
Ex vivo intracellular cytokine measurement
For intracellular cytokine detection, the cervical draining
lymph nodes of the ear were harvested 2 h after OVA peptide
challenge i.v., and 5 x 106 cells were
incubated for 5 h with plate-binding anti-CD3 mAb (2C11, 5
µg/ml; BD PharMingen) and Golgi-Stop (BD PharMingen). Lymphocytes
were harvested and incubated with Fc Block (2.4G2; BD PharMingen) plus
10% rat serum (Sigma-Aldrich) for 20 min at room temperature. Cell
surface markers were stained by anti-CD4-Cy-Chrome (BD PharMingen)
and KJ1-26-FITC mAb (Caltag Laboratoaries). Cells were fixed in 4%
paraformaldehyde (Fisher) and permeabilized in 0.5% saponin
(Sigma-Aldrich) before staining with PE-conjugated rat anti-mouse
IL-4 or anti-IFN-
mAb (BD PharMingen). Over 200,000
lymphocyte-gated events were collected, to obtain >2,000
KJ1-26+CD4+-gated
events.
Immunofluorescent microscopy
Draining cervical lymph nodes were harvested from sacrificed mice and frozen in liquid nitrogen. Cryostat-cut tissue sections (8 µm) were fixed in acetone and stained as described previously (4, 34) with the following reagents: PE-conjugated KJ1-26 (Caltag Laboratories); biotinylated anti-B220 (BD PharMingen) or biotinylated PNA (Sigma-Aldrich); and streptavidin-Alex 647 (Molecular Probes). Sections were mounted in Fluormount G (Southern Biotechnology Associates) and viewed with a fluorescence microscope (Axiophot; Zeiss, Oberkochen, Germany). Images were acquired on a digital camera and were processed with SlideBook software (Intelligent Imaging, Denver, CO).
| Results |
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Previous studies have suggested that worm expulsion is intact and
Th2 cell cytokine production occurs but is significantly impaired in
the MLN after CTLA4Ig treatment of Nb-infected mice (21).
To examine whether the host protective Th2 response was intact in mice
deficient in B7-1 and B7-2, B7-1/B7-2-/- and
B7-1/B7-2+/+ BALB/c mice were inoculated with 500
Nb L3. Mice (five per treatment group) were killed at days 8 and 14
after parasite inoculation, and adult worm survival and fecundity were
determined. As shown in Fig. 1
, by day 14
after Nb inoculation, adult worms were not detectable in either
B7-1/B7-2-/- or
B7-1/B7-2+/+ BALB/c mice. Furthermore, worm
expulsion was inhibited and worm fecundity was pronounced in
Nb-inoculated B7-1/B7-2-/- or
B7-1/B7-2+/+ mice treated in vivo with
anti-CD4 Ab. In a further experiment,
B7-1/B7-2-/- mice were immunized with different
doses (500, 250, and 50) of Nb L3 to investigate whether B7
interactions may be required at lower Ag concentrations. All worms were
expelled at all doses in both B7-1/B7-2-/- and
B7-1/B7-2+/+ BALB/c controls (data not shown),
indicating that the dose of Ag did not influence the B7 dependence of
the Th2 immune response.
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Our findings that the development of IL-4-producing T cells was
unimpaired in Nb-inoculated B7-1/B7-2-/- mice
suggested that a humoral immune response should occur. Previous studies
have shown that elevations in total serum IgE are decreased but not
blocked after CTLA4Ig treatment of Nb-inoculated mice
(21). In our studies, elevations in serum IgE levels were
completely blocked in Nb-infected B7-1/B7-2-/-
mice, whereas in the same experiments CD4-dependent increases
in serum IgE levels were detected in Nb-infected WT controls. Nb
Ag-specific IgG1 titers were absent in infected
B7-1/B7-2-/- mice but were pronounced in
B7-1/B7-2+/+ mice at day 14 after inoculation
(Fig. 3
a). GC formation is an
important CD4 T cell-dependent microenvironment that contributes to Ig
class switching and memory B cell development. Immunohistochemical
analysis showed an almost complete absence of GC formation in the
mesenteric lymph nodes of Nb-inoculated
B7-1/B7-2-/- mice in contrast to pronounced
increases in GC formation observed in Nb-inoculated WT controls (Fig. 3
b). Increased B cell MHCII expression is IL-4 dependent
during nematode infections and is used as an indicator of B cell IL-4R
signaling and activation in vivo (3, 36). MLN cell
suspensions from Nb-inoculated B7-1/B7-2+/+ and
Nb-inoculated B7-1/B7-2-/- mice were stained
simultaneously with anti-MHC class II and B cell-specific
anti-B220 (6B2) Abs. MHC class II expression was markedly increased
in Nb-inoculated B7-1/B7-2+/+ mice but was not
increased in Nb-inoculated B7-1/B7-2-/- mice
(Fig. 3
c). These findings suggest that although
IL-4-producing Th2 cells can develop that mediate worm expulsion in
B7-1/B7-2-/- mice, they cannot deliver IL-4
signals to B cells to mediate increases in MHC class II.
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A number of studies have suggested that the mucosal immune
response favors the development of Th2 cells (37, 38, 39). The
mucosal microenvironment may thus be permissive for the development of
a potent Th2 response that can occur in the absence of B7-1/B7-2
interactions. To test whether Nb could induce a Th2 response in a
nonmucosal milieu and, if so, whether the response remained B7
independent, a novel immunization model was developed in which Nb L3
were injected intracutaneously in the ear. Studies of the kinetics of
IL-4 and IL-13 mRNA gene expression in the draining cervical lymph node
showed that peak levels were attained at day 7 after inoculation with
300 Nb L3 (data not shown). As shown in Fig. 4
, pronounced increases in both IL-13 and
IL-4, but not IFN-
mRNA, were detected in the draining ear lymph
node at day 7 after inoculation of either
B7-1/B7-2-/- or
B7-1/B7-2+/+ mice. These findings demonstrated
that Nb could induce a B7-independent Th2 immune response in a
nonmucosal lymphoid environment.
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The unusual B7-independent Th2 cell differentiation pathway that
occurs after Nb inoculation may involve activation of T cells by Nb
through an Ag-specific or an Ag-nonspecific, perhaps bystander or
polyclonal, T cell activation mechanism. To distinguish between these
alternative mechanisms of T cell
differentiation,5 x
106 DO11.10 OVA-specific T cells from DO11.10
WT or DO11.10 RAG2-/- mice were transferred to
WT recipients (five per treatment group) through i.v. injection. In
initial experiments, DO11.10 RAG2-/-
transferred cells were also used to confirm that endogenous TCR from
the DO11.10 WT mice was not significantly contributing to the activated
donor T cell population. Two days after adoptive transfer, recipient WT
mice (five per treatment group) were inoculated in the ear with 300 Nb
L3 and 30 µg OVA. Seven days later, mice were killed, and cervical
ear lymph nodes collected for analysis. The lymph node cell suspensions
were dual-stained for CD4 and KJ1-26 (anti-DO11.10 Ab). As shown in
Fig. 5
a, the total number of
DO11.10 T cells per cervical lymph node was little increased over
untreated mice in treatment groups immunized in the ear with either OVA
or Nb alone. However, recipient mice immunized with the combination of
OVA plus Nb showed marked expansion of DO11.10 T cells. To
detect IL-4-secreting cells, an OVA-specific ELISPOT assay was
developed and used as described in Materials and Methods.
Recipient mice immunized with Nb alone triggered background IL-4 levels
in the OVA-stimulated group similar to that observed in cells
stimulated with medium alone, whereas cells from recipient mice
immunized with Nb plus OVA exhibited marked increases in the number of
IL-4-secreting cells (Fig. 5
b). Taken together, these
results indicate that a combined immunization with OVA plus Nb is
required to trigger DO11.10 T cell activation and differentiation to
Th2 cells. The observation that Nb immunization alone cannot stimulate
DO11.10 cells indicates that during this nematode parasite infection
Ag-nonspecific mechanisms of T cell activation, such as bystander T
cell activation, are not sufficient to activate the naive DO11.10 T
cells. Nb can thus act as an adjuvant to promote Ag-specific Th2 cell
differentiation in vivo.
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The observation that transferred DO11.10 T cells
differentiated to Th2 cells in vivo after immunization with OVA plus Nb
suggested that this would be a useful model to examine B7-independent
Ag-specific Th2 cell differentiation in vivo. In these experiments,
rather than using B7-1/B7-2-deficient mice, CTLA4Ig was used to block
B7-1/B7-2 interactions in WT B7-1/B7-1+/+ BALB/c
mice in vivo, so that B7-1/B7-2 expression on transferred DO11.10 T
cells could also be inhibited. Five million sorted DO11.10
CD4+ T cells were transferred to BALB/c
recipients. At day 2 after adoptive transfer, recipient mice were given
200 µg of murine CTLA4Ig (five mice per treatment group) or control
fusion protein L6 (five mice per treatment group) and immunized in both
ears with 300 Nb L3 plus 30 µg OVA. At day 3, an additional dose of
200 µg of CTLA4Ig or L6 was administered. This dose has previously
been shown to block the Th2 immune response to H.
polygyrus in BALB/c mice (3). At day 7 after Nb
plus OVA immunization, mice were immunized i.v. with OVA and killed
2 h later, and individual cervical ear lymph nodes were collected
and prepared for FACS analysis. In vivo restimulation with OVA was
necessary because the in vitro OVA-specific restimulation ELISPOT assay
did not detect increases in IL-4 in recipient mice treated with CTLA4Ig
(data not shown). Instead of ELISPOT, cytoplasmic staining, as
described in Materials and Methods, was used to detect IL-4
elevations in KJ1-26+ CD4+
T cells. As shown in Fig. 6
, pronounced
increases in CD69 expression and IL-4 production, but not IFN-
, were
detected in DO11 T cells from the cervical lymph node of BALB/c
mice given either CTLA4Ig or L6. These findings suggest that Nb can act
as an adjuvant that supports B7-independent nonparasite Ag-specific Th2
cell activation and differentiation.
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The observation that DO11.10 T cells can develop into IL-4 T
cells, although B7 interactions are blocked, did not preclude the
possibility that the DO11.10 Th2 cells may show impaired cell cycle
progression. Five million sorted DO11.10 CD4+ T
cells were stained for CFSE, as described in Materials and
Methods, and transferred to BALB/c recipients. Two days after
adoptive transfer, mice were immunized in both ears with Nb plus OVA
and treated with CTLA4Ig (five per treatment group) or L6 (five per
treatment group) at days 0 and 1 after immunization. At day 7, mice
were killed, both draining cervical lymph nodes were collected, and
cell suspensions were prepared from one lymph node for FACS analysis
whereas the other was imbedded in OCT and frozen in liquid nitrogen for
immunofluorescent analysis. Cell populations were stained for KJ1-26
and assessed for CFSE staining. As shown in Fig. 7
, cell cycling was detectable up to nine
generations in DO11.10 T cells from immunized mice given either L6
(Fig. 7
b) or CTLAA4Ig (Fig. 7
c). In both
treatment groups, considerable DO11.10 cell cycling was detected
compared with untreated controls (Fig. 7
a). However, the
frequency of DO11.10 T cells that cycled nine or more generations was
markedly reduced in immunized mice given CTLA4Ig compared with
immunized mice given L6. Thus, although Nb can support differentiation
to IL-4-producing T cells, subsequent cell cycle progression is
reduced.
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| Discussion |
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B7-1/B7-2 costimulation is generally considered a requirement for the development of Th2 cells from naive T cells. The surprising observation that after B7 blockade CD4 T cell effector function was sufficiently intact to mediate host protection during the immune response to Nb suggested that this parasite elicits an alternative pathway for the development of Th2 cells (21). Although these previous studies had suggested that Th2 cell cytokine production was inhibited after in vitro restimulation assays, our findings show that T cell IL-4 production is comparable in B7-1/B7-2-/- and B7-1/B7-2+/+ Nb-inoculated mice when assay systems are used that more directly assess cytokine gene and protein expression in vivo. As described in the results, we also found that the B7 independence of the Th2 response was not dose dependent given that low inoculums induced similar Th2 responses in B7-1/B7-2-/- and B7-1/B7-2+/+ mice. In contrast, the primary Th2 response to a different nematode parasite, H. polygyrus, which is also associated with pronounced T cell IL-4 production, is blocked in B7-1/B7-2-/- mice (35) and in WT mice treated with CTLA4Ig (3). The Th2 response is also blocked after CTLA4Ig administration in T. muris-infected BALB/c mice (5).
There are several possible mechanisms that might explain the difference in B7 dependence between the immune response to Nb and both T. muris and H. polygyrus. Both T. muris and H. polygyrus are strictly enteric, whereas Nb migrates from the skin to the lungs and finally to the small intestines. Nb may thus encounter and activate cell populations distinct from those activated in the intestine by either T. muris or H. polygyrus, some of which may mediate B7-independent T cell activation. It is also possible that Nb expresses a particularly effective adjuvant that can support B7-independent T cell activation. Previous studies have shown that CD4 T cell maturation in some Th1 responses can occur without B7 signaling (5, 6, 8). In these cases, microbial adjuvants may trigger the release of cytokines (40, 41, 42), which then provide sufficient signaling to circumvent a B7 requirement for Th1 cell activation. It is possible that Nb produces an analogous microbial adjuvant, which when recognized by the immune system can trigger the rapid development of a host-protective B7-independent Th2 response. Recent studies suggest that soluble Nb excretory-secretory proteins can stimulate IL-4 production and polyclonal IgE synthesis, although the response is considerably reduced compared with live parasite infection (43); it is possible that Nb excretory-secretory proteins and/or other structures associated with Nb may be responsible for triggering the B7-independent development of the Th2 response. Th2 adjuvants have also been identified on Schistosoma mansoni egg Ags, and recent studies indicate that lacto-N-fucopentaose(III), the predominate carbohydrate in S. mansoni egg Ags, can stimulate Th2 responses, including Ag-specific IgE production, when conjugated to human serum albumin (44, 45).
The development of an immunization model system to examine whether live Nb can similarly promote a nonmucosal Th2 immune response allows for the direct comparison of the immune response after enteric vs parenteral inoculation with the same live pathogen. Our results demonstrate that a similarly potent and highly polarized nonmucosal Th2 immune response is induced and that this response is B7 independent. In further studies, we examined whether Nb can function as an adjuvant to drive the development of nonparasite Ag-specific Th2 cells by transferring DO11.10-transgenic T cells specific for OVA peptide to recipient mice subsequently inoculated with Nb plus OVA. Previous studies with this adoptive transfer model for studying Ag-specific T helper cell differentiation have used Th1-inducing adjuvants, including LPS and CFA, to trigger DO11.10 Th1 cell differentiation in vivo (26, 27). Our findings show that Nb can analogously act as an adjuvant that instead drives the development of DO11.10 Th2 cells in vivo. Thus, naive T cells with the same specificity and affinity for Ag can rapidly develop in vivo into either Th1 or Th2 cells when sufficiently strong, polarizing microbial adjuvants are available, suggesting that under these circumstances TCR signal strength is not a major factor influencing Th cell cytokine production.
It was possible that during the Nb response, Th2 cells were activated to produce IL-4 through a bystander T cell activation mechanism, as has been observed in other immunization systems (1), particularly given the lack of requirement for B7 costimulatory signals. However, the observation that Nb alone did not significantly activate adoptively transferred DO11.10 T cells even as late as day 7 after inoculation suggests that bystander naive T cells (in this case DO11.10 T cells), which lack specificity for Ags associated with Nb, do not play a major role in this response. Thus, the mechanism of Nb-induced Th2 cell responses is probably restricted to the augmentation of Ag-dependent naive T cell differentiation. Considering that the B cell response is frequently polyclonal in parasitic infections (24, 25), it is possible that the contrasting stringent regulation of Ag-specific T cell activation during this parasitic infection plays an important role in controlling the specificity of the response. There was also the possibility that endogenous TCRs, expressed by the DO11.10 transgenic T cells, may recognize Ags associated with Nb. However, the observation that there was little difference between stimulation of transferred DO11.10 T cells from DO11.10 RAG2+/+ mice and DO11.10 RAG2-/- mice in any of the treatment groups showed that endogenous TCRs expressed on T cells from DO11.10 RAG2+/+ mice had little effect, indicating that among the transferred cells naive T cells, specific for OVA, were the major activated population.
The finding that, in the context of the Nb in vivo immune response, naive DO11.10 T cells could differentiate to IL-4-producing T cells, although B7 interactions were inhibited, suggests that the in vivo adjuvant properties of this parasite extend to the activation of B7-independent nonparasite Ag-specific Th2 cell differentiation from naive T cells. Previous in vitro studies have suggested that filarial excretory-secretory products may act as adjuvants that promote Th2 cell development; however, T cell differentiation to cytokine production remained B7 dependent, and restimulation with potent mitogens was required to observe the adjuvant effect (46). Other studies have suggested that in vivo a "default" pathway may develop in the absence of microbial adjuvants, which leads to the development of Th2 responses (10, 11, 12). Previous studies with adult Nb excretory-secretory products have shown that excretory-secretory products can augment B cell IgE challenge responses to nonparasite Ags (43). Our findings, using transferred DO11.10 T cells, now show that Nb promotes in vivo Ag-specific naive T cell differentiation during a primary response, even when the TCR is specific for a nonparasite Ag, suggesting that this parasite has structures that can function as a microbial adjuvant to stimulate Ag-specific Th2 cell differentiation in vivo.
In marked contrast to the sustained development of cytokine producing T
cells and associated worm expulsion, the humoral response was abrogated
in Nb-inoculated B7-1/B7-2-/- mice, consistent
with previous studies that elevations in total IgE were substantially
inhibited after CTLA4Ig administration of Nb-inoculated mice
(21). Our observation that up-regulated B cell surface MHC
class II expression, which is IL-4 dependent (3, 36), was
also inhibited suggests that although B7-independent IL-4-producing T
cells could develop that could mediate worm expulsion, their ability to
interact with B cells was severely compromised. Our further finding
that, after immunization with Nb plus OVA, adoptively transferred
DO11.10 T cells produced IL-4 but showed reduced migration to the B
cell zone indicates that the development of IL-4-producing T cells is
separable from their differentiation to T helper cells that can migrate
to the B cell zone and provide B cell help. These results suggest that
IL-4-producing T cells first develop in the T cell zone and then, after
additional differentiation stages, migrate to the B cell zone where
they contribute to B cell differentiation and GC formation. In vivo
cell cycling was reduced in Nb-inoculated mice, when B7 interactions
were blocked. Because the majority of the DO11.10 cells that had
migrated to the B cell zone in Nb-inoculated mice had undergone
multiple cell divisions, as determined by their reduced or undetectable
CFSE staining (see Fig. 7
), it is possible that T cell migration to the
B cell zone requires differentiation stages that are cell cycle
dependent and that occur after Th cell differentiation to IL-4
production. These results are consistent with findings suggesting that
Th2 cell differentiation (although not necessarily IL-4) may be
controlled by the cell cycle (47). It is also possible
that B-T interactions, which were inhibited in the absence of B7,
promote T cell proliferation; several studies have suggested that B
cells are important in Ag presentation during Th2 responses (48, 49).
Taken together, our results demonstrate that after Nb immunization naive T cells can differentiate in the absence of B7-1/B7-2 interactions to Th2 effector cells that can mediate worm expulsion. Furthermore, Nb act as an adjuvant to induce nonparasite Ag-specific Th2 cell differentiation in vivo.
| Acknowledgments |
|---|
| Footnotes |
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2 Z.L. and Q.L. contributed equally to this work. ![]()
3 Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. William C. Gause, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, 4301 Jones Bridge Road, Bethesda, MD 20814. E-mail address: wgause{at}usuhs.mil ![]()
4 Abbreviations used in this paper: Nb, Nippostrongylus brasiliensis; RAG2-/-, recombination-activating gene-deficient; WT, wild type; MLN, mesenteric lymph node; PNA, peanut agglutinin; GC, germinal center. ![]()
Received for publication June 11, 2002. Accepted for publication October 3, 2002.
| References |
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signals are required for bystander proliferation. J. Exp. Med. 194:1187.
sensitive. J. Immunol. 164:4250.
+ and CD8
- subclasses of dendritic cells direct the development of distinct T helper cells in vivo. J. Exp. Med. 189:587.
-transgenic model. J. Exp. Med. 182:1579.
, and Stat6 are required for the expulsion of the gastrointestinal nematode parasite Nippostrongylus brasiliensis. Immunity 8:255.[Medline]
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