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Intestinal CD103(+) DC promote the differentiation of Foxp3(+) Treg from naïve CD4(+) T cells through mechanisms involving TGF-beta and the dietary metabolite, retinoic acid (RA). In this study, we have analysed whether the specialised features of CD103(+) DC are conserved in colitis. Our results show that inflammation dampens the tolerogenic properties of MLN CD103(+) DC, which is associated with lower expression of tgfbeta2 and aldh1a2. Accordingly, CD103(+) DC taken from colitic mice are impaired in their ability to induce Foxp3(+) Treg and instead favour the emergence of IFN-gamma-producing CD4(+) T cells compared with their steady-state counterparts. BrdU-labelling studies and analysis of ontogeny markers show that CD103(+) DC from steady-state and colitic settings retain similar subset composition and developmental pathways. These results indicate that MLN CD103(+) DC are not hard-wired to promote tolerance but can adapt to environmental conditions. The inflammatory properties of MLN CD103(+) DC in colitic mice may reflect defective gut tolerogenic conditioning or altered migratory pathways and raise the possibility that migratory DC populations contribute to the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease.

Original publication

DOI

10.1002/eji.200939957

Type

Journal article

Journal

Eur j immunol

Publication Date

07/2010

Volume

40

Pages

1877 - 1883

Keywords

Adoptive Transfer, Aldehyde Dehydrogenase, Animals, Antigens, CD, Cell Movement, Cells, Cultured, Colitis, Dendritic Cells, Immune Tolerance, Inflammation, Integrin alpha Chains, Intestines, Lymph Nodes, Mice, Mice, Inbred BALB C, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Mice, Mutant Strains, Mice, Transgenic, Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, Transforming Growth Factor beta2