Article abstract
Nature Immunology 10, 83 - 91 (2008)
Published online: 23 November 2008 | doi:10.1038/ni.1684
ROR
t and commensal microflora are required for the differentiation of mucosal interleukin 22–producing NKp46+ cells
Stephanie L Sanos1,2, Viet L Bui1,2,4, Arthur Mortha1,4, Karin Oberle1, Charlotte Heners1, Caroline Johner3 & Andreas Diefenbach1,2
Abstract
The mucosal immune system of the intestine is separated from a vast array of microbes by a single layer of epithelial cells. Cues from the commensal microflora are needed to maintain epithelial homeostasis, but the molecular and cellular identities of these cues are unclear. Here we provide evidence that signals from the commensal microflora contribute to the differentiation of a lymphocyte population coexpressing stimulatory natural killer cell receptors and the transcription factor ROR
t that produced interleukin 22 (IL-22). The emergence of these IL-22-producing RORthiNKp46+NK1.1int cells depended on RORt expression, which indicated that these cells may have been derived from lymphoid tissue–inducer cells. IL-22 released by these cells promoted the production of antimicrobial molecules important in the maintenance of mucosal homeostasis.
- Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, University of Freiburg, 79104 Freiburg, Germany.
- The Kimmel Center for Biology and Medicine at the Skirball Institute for Biomolecular Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York 10016, USA.
- Max-Planck Institute of Immunobiology, 79108 Freiburg, Germany.
- These authors contributed equally to this work.
Correspondence to: Andreas Diefenbach1,2 e-mail: andreas.diefenbach@uniklinik-freiburg.de
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