Nature Immunology
3, 576 - 582 (2002)
Published online: 13 May 2002; Corrected online: 20 May 2002 | doi:10.1038/ni795
Signaling via LT R on the lamina propria stromal cells of
the gut is required for IgA productionHyung-Sik Kang1, Robert K. Chin1, Yang Wang1, Ping Yu1, Jun Wang2, Kenneth A. Newell2
& Yang-Xin Fu11
Department of Pathology and Committee on
Immunology, The University of Chicago, 5841 S. Maryland,
Chicago, IL 60637, USA. 2
Emory Transplant Center and Department of Surgery,
Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
30322, USA.
Correspondence should be addressed to Yang-Xin Fu yfu@midway.uchicago.eduPeyer's patches (PPs) and/or mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs) are
thought to be essential for immunoglobulin A (IgA) production. We found that
the severe IgA deficiency in lymphotoxin-deficient
(LT-/-) mice could be fully reversed by
reconstitution with LT-expressing bone marrow, despite the absence of both LNs
and PPs. The number of IgA precursors from LT-/-
mice was not reduced, and they were able to migrate into the lamina propria
(LP) of wild-type mice but not of LT R-/- mice.
Consistently, lymphoid tissue chemokines and adhesion molecules were reduced
within the LP of LT -/- and
LTR-/- mice. IgA deficiency in
LT-/- mice was reversed by the
transplantation of a segment of RAG-1 (recombination-activating gene
1)−deficient intestine, which confirmed the dispensability of the MLNs
and PPs and the sufficiency of the LT-mediated gut microenvironment for IgA
production.
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