Neither interleukin-4 receptor α expression on CD4+ T cells, or macrophages and neutrophils is required for protective immunity to Trichinella spiralis

Michels, Chesney E. and Scales, Hannah E. and Saunders, Karin A. and McGowan, S. and Brombracher, Frank and Alexander, James and Lawrence, Catherine E. (2009) Neither interleukin-4 receptor α expression on CD4+ T cells, or macrophages and neutrophils is required for protective immunity to Trichinella spiralis. Immunology, 128 (1pt2). e385-e394. ISSN 0019-2805

Abstract

The T helper type 2 (Th2) mediated expulsion of the gastrointestinal nematode Trichinella spiralis requires interleukin-4 receptor α (IL-4Rα) expression on both bone-marrow-derived and non-bone-marrow-derived cells. To more definitively investigate the role of IL-4/IL-13 responsiveness in the development of protective immunity to T. spiralis, cell-specific IL-4Rα signalling on CD4+ T cells (Lckcre IL-4Rα−/flox) and macrophages/neutrophils (LysMcre IL-4Rα−/flox) was analysed on the BALB/c background. Infection of wild-type and control IL-4Rα−/flox mice induced a Th2-type immune response with elevated IL-4 cytokine production, parasite-specific immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1), total IgE, intestinal mastocytosis and enteropathy. In contrast, global IL-4Rα-deficient BALB/c mice showed reduced worm expulsion, antibody production, intestinal mastocytosis and gut pathology. BALB/c mice generated with cell-specific deletion of IL-4Rα on CD4+ T lymphocytes or macrophages/neutrophils, controlled gastrointestinal helminth infection by eliciting a protective immune response comparable to that observed with wild-type and IL-4Rα−/flox controls. Together, this shows that the development of host protective Th2 responses accompanied by parasite loss is independent of IL-4Rα expression on CD4+ T cells and macrophages/neutrophils.

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