Allergen Exposure in Lymphopenic Fas-Deficient Mice Results in Persistent Eosinophilia Due to Defects in Resolution of Inflammation

Abstract

Asthma is characterized by chronic airway type-2 inflammation and eosinophilia, yet the mechanisms involved in chronic, non-resolving inflammation remain poorly defined. Previously, our group has found that when Rag-deficient mice were reconstituted with Fas-deficient B6 LPR T cells and sensitized and challenged, the mice developed a prolonged type-2-mediated airway inflammation that continued for more than 6 weeks after the last antigen exposure. Surprisingly, no defect in resolution was found when intact B6 LPR mice or T cell specific Fas-conditional knockout mice were sensitized and challenged. We hypothesize that the homeostatic proliferation induced by adoptive transfer of T cells into Rag-deficient mice may be an important mechanism involved in the lack of resolution. To investigate the role of homeostatic proliferation, we induced lymphopenia in the T cell-specific Fas-conditional knockout mice by non-lethal irradiation and sensitized them when T cells began to repopulate. Interestingly, we found that defective Fas signaling on T cells plus antigen exposure during homeostatic proliferation was sufficient to induce prolonged eosinophilic airway inflammation. In conclusion, our data show that the combination of transient lymphopenia, abnormal Fas-signaling, and antigen exposure leads to the development of a prolonged airway eosinophilic inflammatory phase in our mouse model of experimental asthma.

Nonlethal Plasmodium yoelii Infection Drives Complex Patterns of Th2-Type Host Immunity and Mast Cell-Dependent Bacteremia

“…3E ). Concurrent transient eosinophilia and lymphopenia, together with elevated levels of Th2 cytokines, have been described in murine experimental asthma ( 59 ), suggesting that the patterns observed here define a variant Th2-type allergic response that is associated with early ileal mastocytosis, MC activation, and bacteremia.…”