Role of hepatocyte-derived IL-7 in maintenance of intrahepatic NKT cells and T cells and development of B cells in fetal liver.
J Immunol
; 189(9): 4444-50, 2012 Nov 01.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-23018454
ABSTRACT
The liver contains a variety of resident immune cells, such as NK cells, NKT cells, T cells, macrophages, and dendritic cells. However, little is known about how IL-7, which is produced by hepatocytes, functions locally in development and maintenance of liver immune cells. To address this question, we established IL-7-floxed mice and crossed them with albumin promoter-driven Cre (Alb-Cre) transgenic mice to establish conditional knockout of IL-7 in hepatocytes. The levels of IL-7 transcripts were reduced 10-fold in hepatocyte fraction. We found that the absolute numbers of NKT and T cells were significantly decreased in adult liver of IL-7(f/f) Alb-Cre mice compared with IL-7(f/f) control mice. In contrast, NK cells, dendritic cells, and B cells were unchanged in the IL-7(f/f) Alb-Cre liver. The number of Vα14(+) invariant NKT cells was significantly reduced in liver, but not in thymus and spleen, of IL-7(f/f) Alb-Cre mice. Furthermore, B cell development was impaired in perinatal liver of IL-7(f/f) Alb-Cre mice. This study demonstrates that hepatocyte-derived IL-7 plays an indispensable role in maintenance of NKT and T cells in adult liver and development of B cells in fetal liver, and suggests that hepatocytes provide a unique IL-7 niche for intrahepatic lymphocytes.
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Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Diferenciação Celular
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Subpopulações de Linfócitos B
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Subpopulações de Linfócitos T
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Interleucina-7
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Hepatócitos
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Células T Matadoras Naturais
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Fígado
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2012
Tipo de documento:
Article