The enteric pathogen Citrobacter rodentium induces a mucosal IL-17 response in CD4 + T helper (Th17) cells that is dependent on the Nod-like receptors Nod1 and Nod2. Here, we sought to determine whether this early Th17 response required antigen presentation by major histocompatibility complex class II (MHCII) for full induction. At early phases of C. rodentium infection, we observed that the intestinal mucosal Th17 response was fully blunted in irradiated mice reconstituted with MHCII-deficient (MHCII −/− →WT) hematopoietic cells. Surprisingly, we also observed a substantial increase in the relative frequency of IL-17 + CD8 + CD4 − TCR-β + cells (Tc17 cells) and FOXP3 + CD8 + CD4 − TCR-β + cells in the lamina propria and intraepithelial lymphocyte compartment of MHCII −/− →WT mice compared with that in WT→WT counterparts. Moreover, MHCII −/− →WT mice displayed increased susceptibility, increased bacterial translocation to deeper organs, and more severe colonic histopathology after infection with C. rodentium. Finally, a similar phenotype was observed in mice deficient for CIITA, a transcriptional regulator of MHCII expression. Together, these results indicate that MHCII is required to mount early mucosal Th17 responses to an enteric pathogen, and that MHCII regulates the induction of atypical CD8 + T-cell subsets, such as Tc17 cells and FOXP3 + CD8 + cells, in vivo.
Keywords:Citrobacter rodentium r FOXP3 + CD8 + r IL-17 r MHC class II r Tc17Additional supporting information may be found in the online version of this article at the publisher's web-site
IntroductionInterleukin (IL)-17A (herein referred to as IL-17) is a cytokine critical for host defense against pathogens at mucosal surfaces. In the gastrointestinal tract, induction of mucosal IL-17 secretion Correspondence: Dr. Stephen E. Girardin e-mail: stephen.girardin@utoronto.ca was shown to be associated with protection against Salmonella enterica serovar Typhymurium [1], Citrobacter rodentium [2], and Helicobacter species [3]. IL-17 exerts its mucosal protection at least in part through an increase of neutrophil recruitment and neutrophil-driven defense mechanisms. In addition, IL-17 acts in concert with IL-22 to enhance epithelial innate functions, such as antimicrobial peptide secretion, mucus secretion, proliferation, and renewal [4,5].IL-17 can be secreted by a number of cell populations, including CD4 + T helper (Th17) cells, γδ T cells, innate lymphoid cells (that C 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim www.eji-journal.eu Eur. J. Immunol. 2013. 43: 2896-2906 Immunity to infection 2897 include lymphoid tissue inducer cells) and natural killer T (NKT) cells [6][7][8][9][10][11]. In humans, Th17 cells appear to represent the major cell population that produces IL-17 in the intestine under normal conditions, whereas in mice IL-17 is mainly produced by Th17 and γδ T cells. Th17 cell differentiation is mediated by the cytokines IL-6 and TGF-β, whereas IL-23 and IL-1β contribute to the full activation of these cells [6,12,13]. In addition to the c...