title: A novel tool to identify the relative contribution of lymphoid cell types that contribute to IL-10 production during the infection with Schistosoma mansoni: the TIGER index.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Infection with the trematode helminth Schistosoma mansoni affects more than 200 million people worldwide. Infected patients are thought to show a decreased incidence of asthma and autoimmune diseases, which is, among others, considered a result of an increased production of the immunoregulatory cytokine IL-10. However, the location and the type of cell that is responsible for the highest production of IL-10 in vivo are still unknown.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Identification of the hierarchy of IL-10 producing cell types in the mesenteric lymph node and spleen during the course of the murine infection with S. mansoni without the need of an external standard.
  
  
  METHODS
  We describe the use of the IL-10 reporter mouse TIGER for the study of murine schistosomiasis and introduce a novel tool, which we have called the TIGER index (TI). This index combines data from flow cytometric measurements and cell count analysis and allows identifying the cell type with the highest contribution of IL-10 during the course of infection in the secondary lymphoid organs, sites of extensive immunoregulatory activity in schistosomiasis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In this paper we have calculated the TI for the mesenteric lymph nodes and the spleen in the course of a chronic infection with S. mansoni. Using the TI, we identified CD4(pos) CD25pos and CD4(pos) CD25(neg) cell populations as the highest producers of IL-10 in the mesenteric lymph node and the spleen in chronic schistosomiasis, respectively, whereas B cells, NK cells and NKT cells showed a lower contribution to IL-10 production throughout the infection.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The TI is a highly useful tool to measure the relative contribution of different cell types, which are responsible for the in vivo production of IL-10 in the secondary lymphoid organs during the infection with S. mansoni. Thus, the strength of the TI ensures the possibility to analyze IL-10 production in a long term experiment without the need of an external standard between each time point of analysis.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics, Stuebeweg 51, 79108 Freiburg, Germany; University of Freiburg, Germany; International Max Planck Research School of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Freiburg, Germany. Electronic address: sscheer@brc.ubc.ca.
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Scheer
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics, Stuebeweg 51, 79108 Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gross
authors.affiliation: Ecologie et Evolution des Interactions, Université de Perpignan Via Domitia, UMR 5244, 66860 Perpignan, France.
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mouahid
authors.affiliation: Ecologie et Evolution des Interactions, Université de Perpignan Via Domitia, UMR 5244, 66860 Perpignan, France.
authors.forename: Hélène
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Moné
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics, Stuebeweg 51, 79108 Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Marinus C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Lamers
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count / Q000379:methods*; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D002469:Cell Separation / Q000379:methods*; D005434:Flow Cytometry / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D016753:Interleukin-10 / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000276:immunology*; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000276:immunology; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D055611:Natural Killer T-Cells / Q000276:immunology; D012550:Schistosoma mansoni; D012555:Schistosomiasis mansoni / Q000276:immunology*; D013154:Spleen / Q000276:immunology; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: C556062:IL10 protein, mouse; D016753:Interleukin-10
keywords: Flow cytometry; Immunoregulation; Interleukin 10; Reporter mice; Schistosoma mansoni