Phenotypical and Functional Analysis of Intraepithelial Lymphocytes from Small Intestine of Mice in Oral Tolerance

Author(s)

Ruberti, Maristela ; Romani Fernandes, Luis Gustavo ; Simioni, Patricia Ucelli ; Gabriel, Dirce Lima ; Yamada, Aureo Tatsumi ; da Silva Cunha Tamashiro, Wirla Maria

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: CLINICAL & DEVELOPMENTAL IMMUNOLOGY; v. N/A, p. 16-pg., 2012-01-01.

Abstract

In this work, we evaluated the effects of administration of OVA on phenotype and function of intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs) from small intestine of transgenic (TGN) DO11.10 and wild-type BALB/c mice. While the small intestines from BALB/c presented a well preserved structure, those from TGN showed an inflamed aspect. The ingestion of OVA induced a reduction in the number of IELs in small intestines of TGN, but it did not change the frequencies of CD8(+) and CD4(+) T-cell subsets. Administration of OVA via oral + ip increased the frequency of CD103(+) cells in CD4(+) T-cell subset in IELs of both BALB/c and TGN mice and elevated its expression in CD8 beta(+) T-cell subset in IELs of TGN. The frequency of Foxp3(+) cells increased in all subsets in IELs of BALB/c treated with OVA; in IELs of TGN, it increased only in CD25(+) subset. IELs from BALB/c tolerant mice had lower expression of all cytokines studied, whereas those from TGN showed high expression of inflammatory cytokines, especially of IFN-gamma, TGF-beta, and TNF-alpha. Overall, our results suggest that the inability of TGN to become tolerant may be related to disorganization and altered proportions of inflammatory/regulatory T cells in its intestinal mucosa. (AU)