The Reaction of Innate Lymphoid Cells in the Mouse Female Genital Tract to Chlamydial Infection

Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) comprise five distinct subsets. ILCs are found at mucosal barriers and may fight invading pathogens. Chlamydia is an intracellular bacterium that infects the mucosa of the genital tract and can cause severe tissue damage. Here, we used a mouse infection model with Chlamy...

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Published inInfection and immunity Vol. 89; no. 11; p. e0080020
Main Authors Barth, Svenja, Kirschnek, Susanne, Ortmann, Noemi, Tanriver, Yakup, Häcker, Georg
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States American Society for Microbiology 15.10.2021
Subjects
Animals
Chlamydia Infections - immunology
Female
Genitalia, Female - immunology
Host Response and Inflammation
Immunity, Innate
Immunology
Interferon-gamma - biosynthesis
Killer Cells, Natural - immunology
Lymphocytes - immunology
Mice
Mice, Inbred C57BL
tissue damage
innate lymphoid cells
Chlamydia
genital infection
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Summary:Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) comprise five distinct subsets. ILCs are found at mucosal barriers and may fight invading pathogens. Chlamydia is an intracellular bacterium that infects the mucosa of the genital tract and can cause severe tissue damage. Here, we used a mouse infection model with Chlamydia muridarum to measure the reaction of genital tract ILCs to the infection. Tissue-resident natural killer (NK) cells were the largest group in the uninfected female genital tract, and their number did not substantially change. Conventional NK cells were present in the greatest numbers during acute infection, while ILC1s continuously increased to high numbers. ILC2 and ILC3s were found at lower numbers that oscillated by a factor of 2 to 4. The majority of ILC3s transdifferentiated into ILC1s. NK cells and ILC1s produced gamma interferon (IFN-γ) and, rarely, tumor necrosis factor (TNF), but only early in the infection. Lack of B and T cells increased ILC numbers, while the loss of myeloid cells decreased them. ILCs accumulated to a high density in the oviduct, a main site of tissue destruction. ILC subsets are part of the inflammatory and immune reaction during infection with C. muridarum and may contribute to tissue damage during chlamydial infection.
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Citation Barth S, Kirschnek S, Ortmann N, Tanriver Y, Häcker G. 2021. The reaction of innate lymphoid cells in the mouse female genital tract to chlamydial infection. Infect Immun 89:e00800-20. https://doi.org/10.1128/IAI.00800-20.
ISSN:0019-9567
1098-5522
DOI:10.1128/IAI.00800-20