When wild-type BALB/c mice were transferred with OVA-specific Th2 cells followed by OVA inhalation, a severe eosinophilia, mucus hypersecretion and airway hyper-responsiveness (AHR) was induced in parallel with a marked elevation of IL-4, IL-5 and IL-13 levels in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). However, neither eosinophilia, AHR nor mucus hypersecretion was induced in Th2 cell-transferred STAT6-/- mice. The failure of eosinophilia was not due to the defect of Th2 cytokine production in BALF of STAT6-/- mice transferred with Th2 cells, but because of the defect of STAT6-dependent eotaxin production. Indeed, intranasal administration of eotaxin reconstituted pulmonary eosinophilia but not AHR and mucus hypersecretion in OVA-inhalated STAT6-/- mice. These results initially provided direct evidence that STAT6-dependent eotaxin production is essential for pulmonary eosinophilia. We also dissociated the role of STAT6 for eosinophilia from that for AHR and mucus hypersecretion. Thus, STAT6 also plays a critical role at late phase of Th2-dependent allergy induction.

These results indicate that OPN plays a role in the migration of eosinophils into the airways and may be involved in the pathogenesis of asthma.

Background Janus kinases (JAK) are regulators of signaling through cytokine receptors. The importance of JAK1/3 signaling on Th2 differentiation and development of lung allergic responses has not been investigated. Objective To examine a selective JAK1/3 inhibitor (R256) on differentiation of Th subsets in vitro and on development of ovalbumin (OVA)-induced airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) and inflammation in an experimental model of asthma. Methods A selective JAK1/3 inhibitor was used to assay the importance of this pathway on induction of Th1, Th2, and Th17 differentiation in vitro. In vivo, the effects of inhibiting JAK1/3 signaling were examined by administering the inhibitor during the sensitization or during allergen challenge phases in the primary challenge model or just prior to provocative challenge in the secondary challenge model. Airway inflammation and AHR were examined after the last airway challenge. Results In vitro, R256 inhibited differentiation of Th2 but not Th1 or Th17 cells, associated with downregulation of STAT6 and STAT5 phosphorylation. However, once polarized, Th2 cells were unaffected by the inhibitor. In vivo, R256 administered during the OVA sensitization phase prevented development of AHR, airway eosinophilia, mucus hypersecretion, and Th2 cytokine production without changes in Th1 and Th17 cytokine levels, indicating that selective blockade of Th2 differentiation was critical. Inhibitor administration after OVA sensitization but during the challenge phases in the primary or secondary challenge models similarly suppressed AHR, airway eosinophilia, and mucus hypersecretion without any reduction in Th2 cytokine production, suggesting the inhibitory effects were downstream of Th2 cytokine receptor signaling pathways. Conclusions Targeting the Th2-dependent JAK-STAT activation pathway represents a novel therapeutic approach for the treatment of asthma. Clinical Implications Targeting JAK1/3 signaling pathways provides a novel intervention for preventing allergen-induced alterations in lung function. Capsule Summary JAK1/3 signaling pathways are essential for initiation of Th2 differentiation and the development of lung allergic responses.

Naive CD4(+) T cells rapidly proliferate to generate effector cells after encountering an antigen and small numbers survive as memory T cells in preparation for future immunological events. In the present work, adoptive transfer of naive CD4(+) T cells into RAG2(-/-) mice caused the generation of memory-type effector T cells including T(h)1, T(h)2, T(h)17 and regulatory T cells, and eventually induced T cell-dependent colitis. We found here that blocking of the IL-6R with a specific mAb remarkably inhibited the CD4(+) T cell-mediated colitis in parallel with the inhibition of T(h)17 cell generation. However, the transfer of naive CD4(+) T cells prepared from IL-17(-/-) mice still induced severe colitis. At the effector phase, the mAb significantly inhibited IL-17 but not IFN-gamma production. The blockade of IL-6 signaling enhanced the generation of IL-4- and IL-10-producing CD4(+) T cells, and inhibited up-regulation of tumor necrosis factor -alpha mRNA expression in the colon. These findings clearly demonstrated that IL-6 is a critical factor for the induction of colitis by expansion of naive CD4(+) T cells in RAG2(-/-) mice. Thus, the IL-6-mediated signaling pathway may be a significant therapeutic target in T cell-mediated autoimmune diseases.

3-Methylcholanthrene (MCA)-induced sarcomas have been used as conventional tools for investigating immunosurveillance against tumor development. However, MCA-induced sarcoma is not always an ideal model for the study of the human cancer system because carcinomas and not sarcomas are the dominant types of human cancers. To resolve this problem, we established a novel and simple method to induce mouse squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs). As well known, the subcutaneous injection of MCA caused the formation of sarcomas at 100% incidence. However, we here first succeeded at inducing SCC at 60% of incidence within 2 months by a single intra-dermal injection of MCA. Using this primary SCC model, we demonstrated the critical role of interferon (IFN)-gamma-dependent type 1 immunity in immunosurveillance against SCC from the following results: (i) The incidence of SCC was accelerated in IFN-gamma-deficient mice compared with that in wild-type mice; (ii) In vivo injection of CpG-oligodeoxynucleotides (CpG-ODN) caused a marked reduction in the incidence of SCC in parallel with the activation of type 1-dependent antitumor immunity and (iii) The antitumor activity of CpG-ODN was significantly decreased in IFN-gamma-deficient mice. Thus, our established MCA-induced mouse SCC model could be a powerful tool for evaluating immunosurveillance mechanisms during the development of SCC and might result in a novel strategy to address immunosurveillance mechanisms of human cancer.