The Role of Dendritic Cells, B Cells, and M Cells in Gut-Oriented Immune Responses

• Published in: The Journal of immunology (1950) Vol. 166; no. 8; pp. 4843 - 4852
• Main Authors: Alpan, Oral, Rudomen, Gregory, Matzinger, Polly
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Am Assoc Immnol 15.04.2001
• Subjects: Administration, Oral; AM cells; Animals; Antigen-Presenting Cells - immunology; Antigens - administration & dosage; Antigens - immunology; B-Lymphocytes - immunology; Dendritic Cells - immunology; Diet; Dose-Response Relationship, Immunologic; Hypersensitivity, Delayed - genetics; Hypersensitivity, Delayed - immunology; Immune Tolerance - genetics; Immunoglobulin mu-Chains - genetics; Injections, Intradermal; Interphase - genetics; Interphase - immunology; Intestinal Mucosa - cytology; Intestinal Mucosa - immunology; Intestinal Mucosa - pathology; Lymphopenia - genetics; Lymphopenia - immunology; Lymphopenia - pathology; Mice; Mice, Inbred A; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Knockout; Mice, Transgenic; Ovalbumin - administration & dosage; Ovalbumin - immunology; T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer - immunology
• ISSN: 0022-1767; 1550-6606
• DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.166.8.4843

Although induction of T cell responses to fed Ag (oral tolerance) is thought to happen within the organized lymphoid tissue of the gut, we found that mice lacking Peyer's patches, B cells, and the specialized Ag-handling M cells had no defect in the induction of T cell responses to fed Ag, whether assayed in vitro by T cell proliferation or cytokine production, or in vivo by delayed-type hypersensitivity or bystander suppression against mycobacterial Ags in CFA. Feeding of Ag had a major influence on dendritic cells from fed wild-type or muMT mice, such that these APCs were able to elicit a different class of response from naive T cells in vitro. These results suggest that systemic immune responses to soluble oral Ags do not require an organized gut-associated lymphoid tissue but are most likely induced by gut-conditioned dendritic cells that function both to initiate the gut-oriented response and to impart the characteristic features that discriminate it from responses induced parenterally.