Interleukin-15 production at the early stage after oral infection with Listeria monocytogenes in mice.
We previously reported that exogenous interleukin-15 (IL-15) induces proliferation and activation of intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes (i-IEL) in naive mice. To investigate the ability of endogenous IL-15 to stimulate i-IEL in vivo, we monitored i-IEL and intestinal epithelial cells (i-EC) in mice after an oral infection with Listeria monocytogenes. Although the populations of alphabeta and gammadelta i-IEL were not significantly changed after the oral infection, the expression level of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) was increased both at transcriptional and protein levels, and a conversely marked decrease in interleukin-4 (IL-4) was detected in the i-IEL on day 1 after infection as compared with before infection. The T helper 1 (Th1)-biased response of i-IEL coincided with a peak response of IL-15 production in the i-EC after oral infection. These results suggested that IL-15 produced from i-EC may be at least partly involved in the stimulation of i-IEL to produce IFN-gamma after oral infection with L. monocytogenes.
Mitani
A
A
Laboratory of Host Defence and Germfree Life, Research Institute for Disease Mechanism and Control, Nagoya University School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan.
Nishimura
H
H
Hirose
K
K
Washizu
J
J
Kimura
Y
Y
Tanaka
S
S
Yamamoto
G
G
Noguchi
T
T
Yoshikai
Y
Y
D000818:Animals; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000276:immunology; D015870:Gene Expression; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D019409:Interleukin-15 / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000276:immunology; D008088:Listeriosis / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009059:Mouth Diseases / Q000276:immunology*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology
D019409:Interleukin-15; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D015847:Interleukin-4; D007371:Interferon-gamma