Borriello Francesco, Iannone Raffaella, Di Somma Sarah, Vastolo Viviana, Petrosino Giuseppe, Visconte Feliciano, Raia Maddalena, Scalia Giulia, Loffredo Stefania, Varricchi Gilda, Galdiero Maria Rosaria, Granata Francescopaolo, Del Vecchio Luigi, Portella Giuseppe, Marone Gianni
Department of Translational Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Naples Federico II, 80131 Naples, Italy.
Center for Basic and Clinical Immunology Research, School of Medicine, University of Naples Federico II, 80131 Naples, Italy.
J Immunol. 2017 May 1;198(9):3426-3435. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.1601497. Epub 2017 Mar 24.
Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) is a cytokine produced mainly by epithelial cells in response to inflammatory or microbial stimuli and binds to the TSLP receptor (TSLPR) complex, a heterodimer composed of TSLPR and IL-7 receptor α (CD127). TSLP activates multiple immune cell subsets expressing the TSLPR complex and plays a role in several models of disease. Although human monocytes express and mRNAs in response to the TLR4 agonist LPS, their responsiveness to TSLP is poorly defined. We demonstrate that TSLP enhances human CD14 monocyte CCL17 production in response to LPS and IL-4. Surprisingly, only a subset of CD14 CD16 monocytes, TSLPR monocytes (TSLPR mono), expresses TSLPR complex upon LPS stimulation in an NF-κB- and p38-dependent manner. Phenotypic, functional, and transcriptomic analysis revealed specific features of TSLPR mono, including higher CCL17 and IL-10 production and increased expression of genes with important immune functions (i.e., , , , ). Strikingly, TSLPR mono express higher levels of the dendritic cell marker CD1c. This evidence led us to identify a subset of peripheral blood CD14 CD1c cells that expresses the highest levels of TSLPR upon LPS stimulation. The translational relevance of these findings is highlighted by the higher expression of and mRNAs in monocytes isolated from patients with Gram-negative sepsis compared with healthy control subjects. Our results emphasize a phenotypic and functional heterogeneity in an apparently homogeneous population of human CD14 CD16 monocytes and prompt further ontogenetic and functional analysis of CD14 CD1c and LPS-activated CD14 CD1c TSLPR mono.
胸腺基质淋巴细胞生成素(TSLP)是一种主要由上皮细胞在炎症或微生物刺激下产生的细胞因子,它与TSLP受体(TSLPR)复合物结合,该复合物是由TSLPR和IL-7受体α(CD127)组成的异二聚体。TSLP激活表达TSLPR复合物的多个免疫细胞亚群,并在多种疾病模型中发挥作用。尽管人类单核细胞在受到Toll样受体4(TLR4)激动剂脂多糖(LPS)刺激时会表达[具体基因1]和[具体基因2]的信使核糖核酸(mRNA),但它们对TSLP的反应性尚不清楚。我们证明,TSLP可增强人类CD14单核细胞在LPS和白细胞介素-4(IL-4)刺激下CCL17的产生。令人惊讶的是,在LPS刺激下,只有一部分CD14⁺CD16⁺单核细胞,即TSLPR单核细胞(TSLPR mono),以核因子κB(NF-κB)和p38依赖的方式表达TSLPR复合物。表型、功能和转录组分析揭示了TSLPR mono的特定特征,包括更高的CCL17和白细胞介素-10(IL-10)产生以及具有重要免疫功能的基因(即[具体基因3]、[具体基因4]、[具体基因5]、[具体基因6])表达增加。引人注目的是,TSLPR mono表达更高水平的树突状细胞标志物CD1c。这一证据使我们确定了外周血CD14⁺CD1c⁺细胞的一个亚群,该亚群在LPS刺激下表达最高水平的TSLPR。与健康对照受试者相比,革兰氏阴性脓毒症患者分离出的单核细胞中[具体基因7]和[具体基因8]mRNA的更高表达突出了这些发现的转化相关性。我们的结果强调了人类CD14⁺CD16⁺单核细胞这一明显同质群体中的表型和功能异质性,并促使对CD14⁺CD1c⁺和LPS激活的CD14⁺CD1c⁺TSLPR mono进行进一步的个体发生和功能分析。