Differences in interleukin-12 and -15 production by dendritic cells at the early stage of Listeria monocytogenes infection between BALB/c and C57 BL/6 mice.
The mechanisms responsible for the resistance of C57BL/6 mice and for the susceptibility of BALB/c mice to infection with Listeria monocytogenes were studied by comparing early IL-12 and IL-15 production by dendritic cells (DC) after infection with L. monocytogenes. Splenic DC expressing CD11b(low) and CD11c(+) obtained from C57BL/6 mice at 3 and 6 h after L. monocytogenes infection expressed higher levels of IL-12 p40 mRNA and IL-12 p40 protein than did those from BALB/c mice. Concurrently, a larger amount of IFN-gamma was produced by the splenic T cells from C57BL/6 mice in response to immobilized anti-TCRalphabeta mAb than by those from BALB/c mice, while the splenic T cells from BALB/c mice produced a higher level of IL-4 upon TCR alphabeta stimulation than did those of C57BL/6 mice. IL-15 mRNA and intracellular IL-15 protein were detected more abundantly in the DC from C57BL/6 mice than in those from BALB/c mice on day 3 after infection. CD3(+) IL2Rbeta (+) cells in the spleen were increased in C57BL/6 mice but not in BALB/c mice at the early stage after infection. Furthermore, IL-12Rbeta2 gene expression was up-regulated in T cells from C57BL/6 mice but not in those from BALB/c mice at the early stage after listerial infection. These results suggest that the difference in early production of IL-12 and IL-15 by DC may at least partly underlie the difference in susceptibility to L. monocytogenes between C57BL/6 and BALB/c mice.
Liu
T
T
Laboratory of Host Defense, Nagoya University School of Medicine, Nagoya, 466-8550, Japan.
Nishimura
H
H
Matsuguchi
T
T
Yoshikai
Y
Y
D000818:Animals; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000378:metabolism; D018664:Interleukin-12 / Q000378:metabolism*; D019409:Interleukin-15 / Q000378:metabolism*; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000378:metabolism; D008088:Listeriosis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000401:mortality; D016131:Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D013045:Species Specificity; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D013997:Time Factors
D019409:Interleukin-15; D018664:Interleukin-12; D015847:Interleukin-4; D007371:Interferon-gamma