The chemokine TECK is expressed by thymic and intestinal epithelial cells and attracts double- and single-positive thymocytes expressing the TECK receptor CCR9

A Subset of Interleukin-21+ Chemokine Receptor CCR9+ T Helper Cells Target Accessory Organs of the Digestive System in Autoimmunity

“…CD4 + T helper (Th) cells activated in intestinal lymph nodes selectively acquire responsiveness to the ligand (known as TECK or CCL25) for the G protein-coupled chemokine receptor 9 (CCR9) (Papadakis et al, 2000;Vicari et al, 1997;Wurbel et al, 2000) and express high amounts of a4b7 integrin (Campbell and Butcher, 2002). Lymphocytes infiltrating the islets in both human T1D and the NOD mouse express a4b7-integrin, supporting a link between T1D and the gastrointestinal immune system (Vaarala, 2002).…”

Transconjunctival immunotherapy using cholera toxin B to treat experimental allergic conjunctivitis in a mouse model

“…Regarding the cytokine and chemokine profile, a significant increase was observed in the thymus-expressed chemokine (TECK/CCL25), which is involved in the ''homing phenomenon'' of antigen-sensitized lymphocytes in mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) of the intestine [12][13][14] and in B-lymphocyte chemoattractant (BLC/CXCL13), which is reported to be synthesized by helperTh17 [15]. Therefore, it can be stated that immunotherapy using antigens with CTB activates B-cell-associated immune response with secretory IgA (sIgA), as the ocular surface plays a role in lymphoid tissue involved in mucosal immunity, called CALT [16][17][18], and is one part of MALT.…”

Lymphocyte Trafficking to Mucosal Tissues

“…In vivo antibody blocking experiments and adoptive transfer studies with T cells deficient in trafficking molecules (Hamann et al, 1994;Johansson-Lindbom et al, 2003;Lefrancois et al, 1999b;Svensson et al, 2002) have demonstrated an important role for α4β7, the ligand of which, MAdCAM-1, is constitutively expressed on intestinal vascular endothelium, and the chemokine receptor CCR9, the ligand of which, CCL25, is constitutively and selectively produced by small intestinal epithelial cells (Kunkel et al, 2000;Wurbel et al, 2000). Competitive adoptive transfer studies with wild-type and CCR9 −/− TCR transgenic CD8 + T cells indicate that CCR9 plays a more dominant role in T EM cell recruitment to the proximal (duodenum and jejunum) compared with the distal (ileum) small intestine (Stenstad et al, 2007) correlating with higher CCL25 expression at this site (Meurens et al, 2007;Stenstad et al, 2007).…”