House dust mite (HDM) is one of the most common allergens worldwide. In this study, we have addressed the involvement of IL-1 in the interaction between HDM and the innate immune response driven by ...lung epithelial cells (ECs) and dendritic cells (DCs) that leads to asthma. Mice lacking IL-1R on radioresistant cells, but not hematopoietic cells, failed to mount a Th2 immune response and did not develop asthma to HDM. Experiments performed in vivo and in isolated air-liquid interface cultures of bronchial ECs showed that TLR4 signals induced the release of IL-1α, which then acted in an autocrine manner to trigger the release of DC-attracting chemokines, GM-CSF, and IL-33. Consequently, allergic sensitization to HDM was abolished in vivo when IL-1α, GM-CSF, or IL-33 was neutralized. Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) became important only when high doses of allergen were administered. These findings put IL-1α upstream in the cytokine cascade leading to epithelial and DC activation in response to inhaled HDM allergen.
Alum (aluminum hydroxide) is the most widely used adjuvant in human vaccines, but the mechanism of its adjuvanticity remains unknown. In vitro studies showed no stimulatory effects on dendritic cells ...(DCs). In the absence of adjuvant, Ag was taken up by lymph node (LN)-resident DCs that acquired soluble Ag via afferent lymphatics, whereas after injection of alum, Ag was taken up, processed, and presented by inflammatory monocytes that migrated from the peritoneum, thus becoming inflammatory DCs that induced a persistent Th2 response. The enhancing effects of alum on both cellular and humoral immunity were completely abolished when CD11c(+) monocytes and DCs were conditionally depleted during immunization. Mechanistically, DC-driven responses were abolished in MyD88-deficient mice and after uricase treatment, implying the induction of uric acid. These findings suggest that alum adjuvant is immunogenic by exploiting "nature's adjuvant," the inflammatory DC through induction of the endogenous danger signal uric acid.
Although deposition of uric acid (UA) crystals is known as the cause of gout, it is unclear whether UA plays a role in other inflammatory diseases. We here have shown that UA is released in the ...airways of allergen-challenged asthmatic patients and mice, where it was necessary for mounting T helper 2 (Th2) cell immunity, airway eosinophilia, and bronchial hyperreactivity to inhaled harmless proteins and clinically relevant house dust mite allergen. Conversely, administration of UA crystals together with protein antigen was sufficient to promote Th2 cell immunity and features of asthma. The adjuvant effects of UA did not require the inflammasome (
Nlrp3,
Pycard) or the interleukin-1 (
Myd88,
IL-1r) axis. UA crystals promoted Th2 cell immunity by activating dendritic cells through spleen tyrosine kinase and PI3-kinase δ signaling. These findings provide further molecular insight into Th2 cell development and identify UA as an essential initiator and amplifier of allergic inflammation.
► UA is an essential initiator and amplifier of allergy induced by alum or HDM ► UA crystal-induced Th2 cell immunity does not require inflammasome or IL-1R signaling ► Dendritic cells are necessary and required for Th2 cell immunity to OVA+UA ► Dendritic cells get activated in a pathway requiring Syk and PI3Kδ
Growing up on a dairy farm protects children from allergy, hay fever, and asthma. A mechanism linking exposure to this endotoxin (bacterial lipopolysaccharide)–rich environment with protection has ...remained elusive. Here we show that chronic exposure to low-dose endotoxin or farm dust protects mice from developing house dust mite (HDM)–induced asthma. Endotoxin reduced epithelial cell cytokines that activate dendritic cells (DCs), thus suppressing type 2 immunity to HDMs. Loss of the ubiquitin-modifying enzyme A20 in lung epithelium abolished the protective effect. A single-nucleotide polymorphism in the gene encoding A20 was associated with allergy and asthma risk in children growing up on farms. Thus, the farming environment protects from allergy by modifying the communication between barrier epithelial cells and DCs through A20 induction.
Aluminum-containing adjuvants continue to be the most widely used adjuvants for human use. In the last year a major breakthrough has been the realization that alum adjuvant triggers an ancient ...pathway of innate recognition of crystals in monocytes and triggers them to become immunogenic dendritic cells, nature's adjuvant. This recognition can occur directly, via the triggering of the NALP3 inflammasome by alum crystals, or indirectly through release of the endogenous danger signal uric acid. It is also clear now that adjuvants trigger the stromal cells at the site of injection, leading to the necessary chemokines that attract the innate immune cells to the site of injection. How exactly these pathways interact remains to be determined.
It is unclear how Th2 immunity is induced in response to allergens like house dust mite (HDM). Here, we show that HDM inhalation leads to the TLR4/MyD88-dependent recruitment of IL-4 competent ...basophils and eosinophils, and of inflammatory DCs to the draining mediastinal nodes. Depletion of basophils only partially reduced Th2 immunity, and depletion of eosinophils had no effect on the Th2 response. Basophils did not take up inhaled antigen, present it to T cells, or express antigen presentation machinery, whereas a population of FceRI(+) DCs readily did. Inflammatory DCs were necessary and sufficient for induction of Th2 immunity and features of asthma, whereas basophils were not required. We favor a model whereby DCs initiate and basophils amplify Th2 immunity to HDM allergen.
Airway DCs play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of allergic asthma, and interfering with their function could constitute a novel form of therapy. The sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor agonist ...FTY720 is an oral immunosuppressant that retains lymphocytes in lymph nodes and spleen, thus preventing lymphocyte migration to inflammatory sites. The accompanying lymphopenia could be a serious side effect that would preclude the use of FTY720 as an antiasthmatic drug. Here we show in a murine asthma model that local application of FTY720 via inhalation prior to or during ongoing allergen challenge suppresses Th2-dependent eosinophilic airway inflammation and bronchial hyperresponsiveness without causing lymphopenia and T cell retention in the lymph nodes. Effectiveness of local treatment was achieved by inhibition of the migration of lung DCs to the mediastinal lymph nodes, which in turn inhibited the formation of allergen-specific Th2 cells in lymph nodes. Also, FTY720-treated DCs were intrinsically less potent in activating naive and effector Th2 cells due to a reduced capacity to form stable interactions with T cells and thus to form an immunological synapse. These data support the concept that targeting the function of airway DCs with locally acting drugs is a powerful new strategy in the treatment of asthma.
Barrier epithelial cells and airway dendritic cells (DCs) make up the first line of defense against inhaled substances such as house dust mite (HDM) allergen and endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide, LPS). ...We hypothesized that these cells need to communicate with each other to cause allergic disease. We show in irradiated chimeric mice that Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) expression on radioresistant lung structural cells, but not on DCs, is necessary and sufficient for DC activation in the lung and for priming of effector T helper responses to HDM. TLR4 triggering on structural cells caused production of the innate proallergic cytokines thymic stromal lymphopoietin, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, interleukin-25 and interleukin-33. The absence of TLR4 on structural cells, but not on hematopoietic cells, abolished HDM-driven allergic airway inflammation. Finally, inhalation of a TLR4 antagonist to target exposed epithelial cells suppressed the salient features of asthma, including bronchial hyperreactivity. Our data identify an innate immune function of airway epithelial cells that drives allergic inflammation via activation of mucosal DCs.
It was previously shown that administration of recombinant human Fms-like tyrosine kinase receptor-3 ligand (Flt3L) before allergen challenge of sensitized mice suppresses the cardinal features of ...asthma through unclear mechanisms. Here, we show that Flt3L dramatically alters the balance of conventional to plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) in the lung favoring the accumulation of pDCs. Selective removal of pDCs abolished the antiinflammatory effect of Flt3L, suggesting a regulatory role for these cells in ongoing asthmatic inflammation. In support, we found that immature pDCs are recruited to the lungs of allergen-challenged mice irrespective of Flt3L treatment. Selective removal of pDCs during allergen challenge enhanced airway inflammation, whereas adoptive transfer of cultured pDCs before allergen challenge suppressed inflammation. Experiments in which TLR9 agonist CpG motifs were administered in vitro or in vivo demonstrated that pDCs were antiinflammatory irrespective of their maturation state. These effects were mediated through programmed death-1/programmed death ligand 1 interactions, but not through ICOS ligand, IDO, or IFN-alpha. These findings suggest a specialized immunoregulatory role for pDCs in airway inflammation. Enhancing the antiinflammatory properties of pDCs could be employed as a novel strategy in asthma treatment.
Tertiary lymphoid organs (TLOs) are organized aggregates of B and T cells formed in postembryonic life in response to chronic immune responses to infectious agents or self-antigens. Although CD11c+ ...dendritic cells (DCs) are consistently found in regions of TLO, their contribution to TLO organization has not been studied in detail. We found that CD11c(hi) DCs are essential for the maintenance of inducible bronchus-associated lymphoid tissue (iBALT), a form of TLO induced in the lungs after influenza virus infection. Elimination of DCs after the virus had been cleared from the lung resulted in iBALT disintegration and reduction in germinal center (GC) reactions, which led to significantly reduced numbers of class-switched plasma cells in the lung and bone marrow and reduction in protective antiviral serum immunoglobulins. Mechanistically, DCs isolated from the lungs of mice with iBALT no longer presented viral antigens to T cells but were a source of lymphotoxin (LT) beta and homeostatic chemokines (CXCL-12 and -13 and CCL-19 and -21) known to contribute to TLO organization. Like depletion of DCs, blockade of LTbeta receptor signaling after virus clearance led to disintegration of iBALT and GC reactions. Together, our data reveal a previously unappreciated function of lung DCs in iBALT homeostasis and humoral immunity to influenza virus.
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