Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Bonn-Cologne, Bonn, Germany.
Front Immunol. 2022 Jun 9;13:863663. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.863663. eCollection 2022.
Group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) are inducers of type 2 immune responses, but their role during filarial infection remains unclear. In the present study, we used the rodent model of filariasis to analyze ILC2s during infection in susceptible BALB/c mice that develop a chronic infection with microfilaremia and semi-susceptible C57BL/6 mice that eliminate the filariae shortly after the molt into adult worms and thus do not develop microfilaremia. ILC2s (CD45 Lineage TCRβ CD90.2 Sca-1 IL-33R GATA-3) were analyzed in the pleural cavity, the site of infection, after the infective L3 larvae reached the pleural cavity (9 days post infection, dpi), after the molt into adult worms (30dpi) and during the peak of microfilaremia (70dpi). C57BL/6 mice had significantly increased ILC2 numbers compared to BALB/c mice at 30dpi, accompanied by substantially higher IL-5 and IL-13 levels, indicating a stronger type 2 immune response in C57BL/6 mice upon infection. At this time point the ILC2 numbers positively correlated with the worm burden in both mouse strains. ILC2s and GATA-3 CD4 T cells were the dominant source of IL-5 in -infected C57BL/6 mice with ILC2s showing a significantly higher IL-5 expression than CD4 T cells. To investigate the importance of ILC2s during infection, ILC2s were depleted with anti-CD90.2 antibodies in T and B cell-deficient C57BL/6 mice on 26-28dpi and the outcome of infection was compared to isotype controls. mice were per se susceptible to infection with significantly higher worm burden than C57BL/6 mice and developed microfilaremia. Depletion of ILC2s did not result in an increased worm burden in mice, but led to significantly higher microfilariae numbers compared to isotype controls. In conclusion, our data demonstrate that ILC2s are essentially involved in the control of microfilaremia in C57BL/6 mice.
2 型固有淋巴细胞 (ILC2) 是 2 型免疫反应的诱导剂,但它们在丝虫感染中的作用尚不清楚。在本研究中,我们使用了线虫感染的啮齿动物模型,分析了易感 BALB/c 小鼠(在感染后发展为微丝蚴血症的慢性感染)和半易感 C57BL/6 小鼠(在成虫蜕皮后不久就消除了丝虫,因此不会发展为微丝蚴血症)感染期间的 ILC2。在感染部位胸腔中分析了 ILC2(CD45 谱系 TCRβ CD90.2 Sca-1 IL-33R GATA-3),在感染性 L3 幼虫到达胸腔后(感染后 9 天,dpi)、成虫蜕皮后(30dpi)和微丝蚴血症高峰期(70dpi)。与 BALB/c 小鼠相比,C57BL/6 小鼠在 30dpi 时 ILC2 数量显著增加,同时 IL-5 和 IL-13 水平也显著升高,表明 C57BL/6 小鼠在感染后产生了更强的 2 型免疫反应。此时,两种小鼠品系的 ILC2 数量与虫负荷呈正相关。ILC2 和 GATA-3 CD4 T 细胞是感染后 C57BL/6 小鼠中 IL-5 的主要来源,ILC2 的 IL-5 表达水平明显高于 CD4 T 细胞。为了研究 ILC2 在丝虫感染中的重要性,我们在 26-28dpi 时用抗 CD90.2 抗体耗尽 T 和 B 细胞缺陷的 C57BL/6 小鼠中的 ILC2,并将感染结果与同型对照进行比较。这些小鼠本身就容易感染 ,虫负荷明显高于 C57BL/6 小鼠,并发展为微丝蚴血症。ILC2 耗竭不会导致 感染的虫负荷增加,但与同型对照相比,微丝蚴数量显著增加。总之,我们的数据表明,ILC2 在内脏利什曼原虫感染的 C57BL/6 小鼠中控制微丝蚴血症方面发挥了重要作用。