Allergen challenge in allergic rhinitis rapidly induces increased peripheral blood type 2 innate lymphoid cells that express CD84

• Published in: Journal of allergy and clinical immunology Vol. 133; no. 4; pp. 1203 - 1205.e7
• Main Authors: Doherty, Taylor A., Scott, David, Walford, Hannah H., Khorram, Naseem, Lund, Sean, Baum, Rachel, Chang, Jinny, Rosenthal, Peter, Beppu, Andrew, Miller, Marina, Broide, David H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 01.04.2014; Elsevier; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Allergens - administration & dosage; Allergens - immunology; Allergies; Allergy and Immunology; Antigens, CD - metabolism; Biological and medical sciences; Bone marrow; Cytokines; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Fundamental immunology; Humans; Immunopathology; Lymphocytes; Lymphocytes - immunology; Lymphocytes - metabolism; Medical sciences; Non tumoral diseases; Otorhinolaryngology. Stomatology; Rhinitis, Allergic; Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial - immunology; Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial - metabolism; Sarcoidosis. Granulomatous diseases of unproved etiology. Connective tissue diseases. Elastic tissue diseases. Vasculitis; Signaling Lymphocytic Activation Molecule Family; T cell receptors; Upper respiratory tract, upper alimentary tract, paranasal sinuses, salivary glands: diseases, semeiology; Allergy; Immunopathology; Nose disease; Lymphoid cell; Blood cell; Immunology; Rhinitis; ENT disease; Provocation test
• ISSN: 0091-6749; 1097-6825; 1097-6825
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jaci.2013.12.1086

To the Editor: Type 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) have recently been discovered and include nuocytes, natural helper cells, and innate type 2 helper cells.1,2 ILC2s do not express known surface markers for T, B, natural killer, or natural killer T cells (lineage-negative) and produce large amounts of TH2 cytokines in response to cytokines IL-33, IL-25, thymic stromal lymphopoietin, and leukotriene D4.2-4 Studies in animal models have shown that ILC2s contribute to allergen-induced airway hyperresponsiveness and type 2 lung inflammatory responses, suggesting that ILC2s may have a role in asthma and allergic disease.2 Human ILC2s have been detected in peripheral blood, gastrointestinal tract, lung, bronchoalveolar lavage, and nasal polyps and are defined as lineage-negative lymphocytes that express the chemoattractant receptor homologous molecule expressed on TH2 lymphocytes (CRTH2).5 We have previously reported that peripheral blood ILC2s highly express the master TH2 cytokine transcription factor GATA-binding protein 3, supporting a role for rapid ILC2 TH2 cytokine production.6 Despite the potential for ILC2s to contribute to human allergic disease, no studies have yet reported whether allergen exposure in sensitized allergic rhinitis subjects has any effect on peripheral blood ILC2 levels. [...]we hypothesized that CRTH2+ ILC2s may be increased in the peripheral blood of cat-allergic individuals after nasal cat allergen challenge. Human ILC2s are a recently discovered population of cells that are known to express CRTH2 and CD161,5 but reported expression of other markers is very limited and we thus sought to identify expression of novel human ILC2 surface molecules. Because mouse ILC2s express molecules involved in T-cell-B-cell interactions including Inducible T-cell Costimulator,2 we assessed ILC2s for levels of CD84, a CD2 signaling lymphocyte activation molecule family member with a role in T-cell-B-cell contact.7 Interestingly, we detected high levels of CD84 on peripheral blood ILC2s from cat-allergic individuals at baseline (Fig 1, B).