The IL-17A-neutrophil axis promotes epithelial cell IL-33 production during nematode lung migration.

The early migratory phase of pulmonary helminth infections is characterized by tissue injury leading to the release of the alarmin interleukin (IL)-33 and subsequent induction of type 2 immune responses. We recently described a role for IL-17A, through suppression of interferon (IFN)-γ, as an important inducer of type 2 responses during infection with the lung-migrating rodent nematode Nippostrongylus brasiliensis. Here, we aimed to investigate the interaction between IL-17A and IL-33 during the early lung migratory stages of N. brasiliensis infection. In this brief report, we demonstrate that deficiency of IL-17A leads to impaired IL-33 expression and secretion early in infection, independent of IL-17A suppression of IFN-γ. Neutrophil-depletion experiments, which dramatically reduce lung injury, revealed that neutrophils are primarily responsible for the IL-17A-dependent release of IL-33 into the airways. Taken together, our results reveal an IL-17A-neutrophil-axis that can drive IL-33 during helminth infection, highlighting an additional pathway by which IL-17A regulates pulmonary type 2 immunity.

T helper 2 cells control monocyte to tissue-resident macrophage differentiation during nematode infection of the pleural cavity.

The recent revolution in tissue-resident macrophage biology has resulted largely from murine studies performed in C57BL/6 mice. Here, using both C57BL/6 and BALB/c mice, we analyze immune cells in the pleural cavity. Unlike C57BL/6 mice, naive tissue-resident large-cavity macrophages (LCMs) of BALB/c mice failed to fully implement the tissue-residency program. Following infection with a pleural-dwelling nematode, these pre-existing differences were accentuated with LCM expansion occurring in C57BL/6, but not in BALB/c mice. While infection drove monocyte recruitment in both strains, only in C57BL/6 mice were monocytes able to efficiently integrate into the resident pool. Monocyte-to-macrophage conversion required both T cells and interleukin-4 receptor alpha (IL-4Rα) signaling. The transition to tissue residency altered macrophage function, and GATA6+ tissue-resident macrophages were required for host resistance to nematode infection. Therefore, during tissue nematode infection, T helper 2 (Th2) cells control the differentiation pathway of resident macrophages, which determines infection outcome.

Instructional Cueing Alters Upper Limb Muscle Activity and Kinematics During Elastic Resistance Exercise.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to quantify the differences in upper limb muscle activity and kinematics when performing shoulder elastic resistance exercises with no cue, slouched posture, and corrected posture. DESIGN: Fifteen healthy participants completed four shoulder elastic resistance exercises (unilateral flexion, bilateral flexion, external rotation, and external rotation with towel) across three simulated body postures (no cue, corrected posture, and slouched posture). Surface electromyography was measured on 16 upper limb muscles and kinematics were collected. Two-way repeated-measures analyses of variance examined differences in muscle activation and kinematics across postures and exercises. RESULTS: Interactions between exercise and posture were found for most muscles. Muscle activity interactions existed in 14 of the 16 muscles examined, with 8 muscles having the greatest activity in the unilateral flexion, slouched condition (P < 0.0001). The slouched posture generated activity up to 88.4 ± 5.1 %MVC in the cervical extensors. Completing flexion or external rotation exercises with a slouched posture led to increased glenohumeral range of motion (P < 0.0001), but these differences were less than 5 degrees between the greatest and smallest ranges of motion (85.8 vs. 81.0 degrees). CONCLUSION: Posture influenced muscle activation and kinematics, with slouched postures increasing muscle activity and range of motion. There was little to no difference between the no cue and corrected cue conditions, suggesting that perhaps a clinician's time may be better spent focusing on avoiding slouched postures rather than ensuring mastering technique.

IL-13 deficiency exacerbates lung damage and impairs epithelial-derived type 2 molecules during nematode infection.

IL-13 is implicated in effective repair after acute lung injury and the pathogenesis of chronic diseases such as allergic asthma. Both these processes involve matrix remodelling, but understanding the specific contribution of IL-13 has been challenging because IL-13 shares receptors and signalling pathways with IL-4. Here, we used Nippostrongylus brasiliensis infection as a model of acute lung damage comparing responses between WT and IL-13-deficient mice, in which IL-4 signalling is intact. We found that IL-13 played a critical role in limiting tissue injury and haemorrhaging in the lung, and through proteomic and transcriptomic profiling, identified IL-13-dependent changes in matrix and associated regulators. We further showed a requirement for IL-13 in the induction of epithelial-derived type 2 effector molecules such as RELM-α and surfactant protein D. Pathway analyses predicted that IL-13 induced cellular stress responses and regulated lung epithelial cell differentiation by suppression of Foxa2 pathways. Thus, in the context of acute lung damage, IL-13 has tissue-protective functions and regulates epithelial cell responses during type 2 immunity.

The magnitude of airway remodeling is not altered by distinct allergic inflammatory responses in BALB/c versus C57BL/6 mice but matrix composition differs.

Allergic airway inflammation is heterogeneous with variability in immune phenotypes observed across asthmatic patients. Inflammation has been thought to directly contribute to airway remodeling in asthma, but clinical data suggest that neutralizing type 2 cytokines does not necessarily alter disease pathogenesis. Here, we utilized C57BL/6 and BALB/c mice to investigate the development of allergic airway inflammation and remodeling. Exposure to an allergen cocktail for up to 8 weeks led to type 2 and type 17 inflammation, characterized by airway eosinophilia and neutrophilia and increased expression of chitinase-like proteins in both C57BL/6 and BALB/c mice. However, BALB/c mice developed much greater inflammatory responses than C57BL/6 mice, effects possibly explained by a failure to induce pathways that regulate and maintain T-cell activation in C57BL/6 mice, as shown by whole lung RNA transcript analysis. Allergen administration resulted in a similar degree of airway remodeling between mouse strains but with differences in collagen subtype composition. Increased collagen III was observed around the airways of C57BL/6 but not BALB/c mice while allergen-induced loss of basement membrane collagen IV was only observed in BALB/c mice. This study highlights a model of type 2/type 17 airway inflammation in mice whereby development of airway remodeling can occur in both BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice despite differences in immune response dynamics between strains. Importantly, compositional changes in the extracellular matrix between genetic strains of mice may help us better understand the relationships between lung function, remodeling and airway inflammation.

IL-17A both initiates, via IFNγ suppression, and limits the pulmonary type-2 immune response to nematode infection.

Nippostrongylus brasiliensis is a well-defined model of type-2 immunity but the early lung-migrating phase is dominated by innate IL-17A production. In this study, we confirm previous observations that Il17a-KO mice infected with N. brasiliensis exhibit an impaired type-2 immune response. Transcriptional profiling of the lung on day 2 of N. brasiliensis infection revealed an increased Ifng signature in Il17a-KO mice confirmed by enhanced IFNγ protein production in lung lymphocyte populations. Depletion of early IFNγ rescued type-2 immune responses in the Il17a-KO mice demonstrating that IL-17A-mediated suppression of IFNγ promotes type-2 immunity. Notably, later in infection, once the type-2 response was established, IL-17A limited the magnitude of the type-2 response. IL-17A regulation of type-2 immunity was lung-specific and infection with Trichuris muris revealed that IL-17A promotes a type-2 immune response in the lung even when infection is restricted to the intestine. Together our data reveal IL-17A as a major regulator of pulmonary type-2 immunity such that IL-17A supports early development of a protective type-2 response by suppression of IFNγ but subsequently limits excessive type-2 responses. A failure of this feedback loop may contribute to conditions such as severe asthma, characterised by combined elevation of IL-17 and type-2 cytokines.

Inflammasome-Independent Role for NLRP3 in Controlling Innate Antihelminth Immunity and Tissue Repair in the Lung.

Alternatively activated macrophages are essential effector cells during type 2 immunity and tissue repair following helminth infections. We previously showed that Ym1, an alternative activation marker, can drive innate IL-1R-dependent neutrophil recruitment during infection with the lung-migrating nematode, Nippostrongylus brasiliensis, suggesting a potential role for the inflammasome in the IL-1-mediated innate response to infection. Although inflammasome proteins such as NLRP3 have important proinflammatory functions in macrophages, their role during type 2 responses and repair are less defined. We therefore infected Nlrp3 -/- mice with N. brasiliensis Unexpectedly, compared with wild-type (WT) mice, infected Nlrp3 -/- mice had increased neutrophilia and eosinophilia, correlating with enhanced worm killing but at the expense of increased tissue damage and delayed lung repair. Transcriptional profiling showed that infected Nlrp3 -/- mice exhibited elevated type 2 gene expression compared with WT mice. Notably, inflammasome activation was not evident early postinfection with N. brasiliensis, and in contrast to Nlrp3 -/- mice, antihelminth responses were unaffected in caspase-1/11-deficient or WT mice treated with the NLRP3-specific inhibitor MCC950. Together these data suggest that NLRP3 has a role in constraining lung neutrophilia, helminth killing, and type 2 immune responses in an inflammasome-independent manner.