title: Nasal immune system: distinctive Th0 and Th1/Th2 type environments in murine nasal-associated lymphoid tissues and nasal passage, respectively.
abstract: The nasal mucosa, an important arm of the mucosal immune system, is the first site of contact with inhaled antigens to induce an IgA response. A major aim of this study was to characterize the Th1 and Th2 cytokine expression of mucosal T cells residing in nasal-associated lymphoid tissue (NALT) and nasal passages (NP) as IgA inductive and effector sites, respectively, at the transcription and cellular levels. An application of single-cell reverse transcription-PCR for analysis of Th1 (IFN-gamma) and Th2 (IL-4 and IL-6) cytokine-specific mRNA revealed the presence of CD4+ T cells with a Th0 profile in NALT, while high numbers of Th2 cytokine-specific mRNA expressed by CD4+ T cells were noted in NP followed by Th1-type cells. NALT CD3+ CD4+ T cells of Th0 type have the capacity to become Th1- and/or Th2-type cells since their activation via the TCR-CD3 complex resulted in the expression of an array of Th1 and Th2 cytokines. CD3+ CD4+ T cells from NP, but not NALT, provide a helper function for the induction of antibody-forming cells including IgA isotype in B cell cultures. These findings suggest that NALT is characterized by a Th0 environment which can gain a Th1 and/or Th2 phenotype. In contrast, NP is considered to be a Th2 dominant site with some Th1 cells that can support the induction of IgA-producing cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mucosal Immunology, Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hiroi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Iwatani
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Iijima
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kodama
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yanagita
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kiyono
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D018928:Immunity, Mucosal; D008221:Lymphoid Tissue / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009297:Nasal Mucosa / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta / Q000276:immunology; D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta / Q000276:immunology; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000145:classification / Q000276:immunology; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000145:classification / Q000276:immunology*; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000145:classification / Q000276:immunology*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta; D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta