Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2013 Oct 2;8(10):e76176. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0076176. eCollection 2013.
Cells of the endocervix are responsible for the secretion of mucins, which provide an additional layer of protection to the female reproductive tract (FRT). This barrier is likely fortified with IgA as has previously been shown in the gastrointestinal tract and lungs of mice. Mucus associated IgA can facilitate clearance of bacteria. While a similar function for IgG has been proposed, an association with mucus has not yet been demonstrated. Here we find that IgA and IgG are differentially associated with the different types of mucus of the FRT. We observed that while both IgA and IgG are stably associated with cervical mucus, only IgG is associated with cervicovaginal mucus. These findings reveal that antibodies can bind tightly to mucus, where they can play a significant role in the fortification of the mucus barriers of the FRT. It may be possible to harness this interaction in the development of vaccines designed to protect the FRT mucosal barriers from sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV.
宫颈内细胞负责分泌黏蛋白，为女性生殖道（FRT）提供额外的保护。这种屏障可能与 IgA 一起强化，正如之前在小鼠的胃肠道和肺部中所显示的那样。黏附 IgA 可以促进细菌清除。虽然已经提出了 IgG 具有类似的功能，但与黏液的关联尚未得到证实。在这里，我们发现 IgA 和 IgG 与 FRT 的不同类型的黏液有不同的关联。我们观察到，虽然 IgA 和 IgG 都与宫颈黏液稳定结合，但只有 IgG 与阴道宫颈黏液结合。这些发现表明，抗体可以与黏液紧密结合，在那里它们可以在强化 FRT 黏液屏障方面发挥重要作用。在开发旨在保护 FRT 黏膜屏障免受 HIV 等性传播疾病侵害的疫苗时，可能可以利用这种相互作用。
