Oral macrophage-like cells play a key role in tolerance induction following sublingual immunotherapy of asthmatic mice

Mucosal Immunol. 2011 Nov;4(6):638-47. doi: 10.1038/mi.2011.28. Epub 2011 Jul 20.

Abstract

Sublingual allergen-specific immunotherapy (SLIT) is a safe and efficacious treatment for type 1 respiratory allergies. Herein, we investigated the key subset(s) of antigen-presenting cells (APCs) involved in antigen/allergen capture and tolerance induction during SLIT. Following sublingual administration, fluorochrome-labeled ovalbumin (OVA) is predominantly captured by oral CD11b⁺CD11c⁻ cells that migrate to cervical lymph nodes (CLNs) and present the antigen to naive CD4⁺ T cells. Conditional depletion with diphtheria toxin of CD11b⁺, but not CD11c⁺ cells, in oral tissues impairs CD4⁺ T-cell priming in CLNs. In mice with established asthma to OVA, specific targeting of the antigen to oral CD11b⁺ cells using the adenylate cyclase vector system reduces airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR), eosinophil recruitment in bronchoalveolar lavages (BALs), and specific Th2 responses in CLNs and lungs. Oral CD11b⁺CD11c⁻ cells resemble tolerogenic macrophages found in the lamina propria (LP) of the small intestine in that they express the mannose receptor CD206, as well as class-2 retinaldehyde dehydrogenase (RALDH2), and they support the differentiation of interferon-γ/interleukin-10 (IFNγ/IL-10)-producing Foxp3⁺ CD4⁺ regulatory T cells. Thus, among the various APC subsets present in oral tissues of mice, macrophage-like cells play a key role in tolerance induction following SLIT.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Administration, Sublingual
  • Allergens / administration & dosage
  • Animals
  • Antigen Presentation
  • Asthma / chemically induced
  • Asthma / drug therapy
  • Asthma / immunology*
  • Asthma / physiopathology
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Cytokines / metabolism
  • Desensitization, Immunologic*
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Forkhead Transcription Factors / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Immune Tolerance
  • Macrophages / immunology
  • Macrophages / metabolism*
  • Macrophages / pathology
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Mice, Transgenic
  • Mouth Mucosa / pathology
  • Ovalbumin / administration & dosage
  • T-Lymphocyte Subsets / immunology
  • T-Lymphocyte Subsets / metabolism*
  • T-Lymphocyte Subsets / pathology
  • T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / immunology
  • T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / metabolism*
  • T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / pathology

Substances

  • Allergens
  • Cytokines
  • Forkhead Transcription Factors
  • Foxp3 protein, mouse
  • Ovalbumin