TLR5-deficient mice lack basal inflammatory and metabolic defects but exhibit impaired CD4 T cell responses to a flagellated pathogen.

TLR5-deficient mice have been reported to develop spontaneous intestinal inflammation and metabolic abnormalities. However, we report that TLR5-deficient mice from two different animal colonies display no evidence of basal inflammatory disease, metabolic abnormalities, or enhanced resistance to Salmonella infection. In contrast, the absence of TLR5 hindered the initial activation and clonal expansion of intestinal flagellin-specific CD4 T cells following oral Salmonella infection. Together, these data demonstrate that a basal inflammatory phenotype is not a consistent feature of TLR5-deficient mice and document a novel role for TLR5 in the rapid targeting of flagellin by intestinal pathogen-specific CD4 T cells.

TLR5 functions as an endocytic receptor to enhance flagellin-specific adaptive immunity.

Innate immune activation via TLR induces dendritic cell maturation and secretion of inflammatory mediators, generating favorable conditions for naïve T-cell activation. Here, we demonstrate a previously unknown function for TLR5, namely that it enhances MHC class-II presentation of flagellin epitopes to CD4(+) T cells and is required for induction of robust flagellin-specific adaptive immune responses. Flagellin-specific CD4(+) T cells expanded poorly in TLR5-deficient mice immunized with flagellin, a deficiency that persisted even when additional TLR agonists were provided. Flagellin-specific IgG responses were similarly depressed in the absence of TLR5. In marked contrast, TLR5-deficient mice developed robust flagellin-specific T-cell responses when immunized with processed flagellin peptide. Surprisingly, the adaptor molecule Myd88 was not required for robust CD4(+) T-cell responses to flagellin, indicating that TLR5 enhances flagellin-specific CD4(+) T-cell responses in the absence of conventional TLR signaling. A requirement for TLR5 in generating flagellin-specific CD4(+) T-cell activation was also observed when using an in vitro dendritic cell culture system. Together, these data uncover an Myd88-independent function for dendritic cell TLR5 in enhancing the presentation of peptides to flagellin-specific CD4(+) T cells.

Soluble flagellin, FliC, induces an Ag-specific Th2 response, yet promotes T-bet-regulated Th1 clearance of Salmonella typhimurium infection.

Clearance of disseminated Salmonella infection requires bacterial-specific Th1 cells and IFN-γ production, and Th1-promoting vaccines are likely to help control these infections. Consequently, vaccine design has focused on developing Th1-polarizing adjuvants or Ag that naturally induce Th1 responses. In this study, we show that, in mice, immunization with soluble, recombinant FliC protein flagellin (sFliC) induces Th2 responses as evidenced by Ag-specific GATA-3, IL-4 mRNA, and protein induction in CD62L(lo) CD4(+) T cells without associated IFN-γ production. Despite these Th2 features, sFliC immunization can enhance the development of protective Th1 immunity during subsequent Salmonella infection in an Ab-independent, T-cell-dependent manner. Salmonella infection in sFliC-immunized mice resulted in augmented Th1 responses, with greater bacterial clearance and increased numbers of IFN-γ-producing CD4(+) T cells, despite the early induction of Th2 features to sFliC. The augmented Th1 immunity after sFliC immunization was regulated by T-bet although T-bet is dispensable for primary responses to sFliC. These findings show that there can be flexibility in T-cell responses to some subunit vaccines. These vaccines may induce Th2-type immunity during primary immunization yet promote Th1-dependent responses during later infection. This suggests that designing Th1-inducing subunit vaccines may not always be necessary since this can occur naturally during subsequent infection.