Niche rather than origin dysregulates mucosal Langerhans cells development in aged mice

Mucosal Immunol. 2020 Sep;13(5):767-776. doi: 10.1038/s41385-020-0301-y. Epub 2020 May 26.

Abstract

Unlike epidermal Langerhans cells (LCs) that originate from embryonic precursors and are self-renewed locally, mucosal LCs arise and are replaced by circulating bone marrow (BM) precursors throughout life. While the unique lifecycle of epidermal LCs is associated with an age-dependent decrease in their numbers, whether and how aging has an impact on mucosal LCs remains unclear. Focusing on gingival LCs we found that mucosal LCs are reduced with age but exhibit altered morphology with that observed in aged epidermal LCs. The reduction of gingival but not epidermal LCs in aged mice was microbiota-dependent; nevertheless, the impact of the microbiota on gingival LCs was indirect. We next compared the ability of young and aged BM precursors to differentiate to mucosal LCs. Mixed BM chimeras, as well as differentiation cultures, demonstrated that aged BM has intact if not superior capacity to differentiate into LCs than young BM. This was in line with the higher percentages of mucosal LC precursors, pre-DCs, and monocytes, detected in aged BM. These findings suggest that while aging is associated with reduced LC numbers, the niche rather than the origin controls this process in mucosal barriers.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Age Factors
  • Aging / physiology
  • Animals
  • Biomarkers
  • Bone Morphogenetic Protein 7 / genetics
  • Bone Morphogenetic Protein 7 / metabolism
  • Cell Differentiation* / genetics
  • Cell Differentiation* / immunology
  • Cellular Microenvironment / genetics
  • Cellular Microenvironment / immunology*
  • Cellular Senescence / genetics
  • Cellular Senescence / immunology
  • Epidermal Cells / immunology
  • Epidermal Cells / metabolism
  • Epidermis / immunology
  • Epidermis / metabolism
  • Epidermis / microbiology
  • Gene Expression
  • Gingiva / immunology
  • Gingiva / metabolism
  • Gingiva / microbiology
  • Immunophenotyping
  • Langerhans Cells / cytology
  • Langerhans Cells / immunology*
  • Langerhans Cells / metabolism*
  • Mice
  • Microbiota
  • Mucous Membrane / immunology*
  • Mucous Membrane / metabolism*
  • Mucous Membrane / microbiology
  • Transforming Growth Factor beta1 / genetics
  • Transforming Growth Factor beta1 / metabolism

Substances

  • Biomarkers
  • Bone Morphogenetic Protein 7
  • Tgfb1 protein, mouse
  • Transforming Growth Factor beta1
  • bmp7 protein, mouse