Suppressed induction of mycobacterial antigen-specific Th1-type CD4+ T cells in the lung after pulmonary mycobacterial infection.

Although the importance of T(h)1-type immune response in protection against mycobacterial infection is well recognized, its regulatory mechanism in the Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb)-infected lung is not well characterized. To address this issue, we analyzed kinetics of induction of mycobacterial antigen-specific CD4(+) T(h)1 T cells after mycobacterial infection in P25 TCR-transgenic (Tg) mice which express TCR alpha and beta chains from a mycobacterial Ag85B-specific MHC class II A(b)-restricted CD4(+) T-cell clone. To supply normal regulatory T-cell repertoire, we transferred normal spleen T cells into the P25 TCR-Tg mice before infection. High dose subcutaneous infection with Mtb or Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) induced P25 TCR-Tg CD4(+) T(h)1 cells within a week. In contrast, high-dose Mtb or BCG infection into the lung failed to induce P25 TCR-Tg CD4(+) T(h)1 cells at the early stage of the infection. Furthermore, low-dose Mtb infection into the lung induced P25 TCR-Tg CD4(+) T(h)1 cells on day 21 in the mediastinal lymph node but not in the lung. IL-10 was partially involved in the suppression of T(h)1 induction in the lung because pretreatment of mice with anti-IL-10 antibody resulted in increase of P25 TCR-Tg CD4(+) T(h)1 cells in the Mtb-infected lung on day 21 of the infection, whereas neutralization of transforming growth factor-beta, another important suppressive cytokine in the lung, showed no effects on the T(h)1 induction. Our data suggest that induction of anti-mycobacterial CD4(+) T(h)1 cells is suppressed in the mycobacteria-infected lung partially by IL-10.

IL-17A produced by gammadelta T cells plays a critical role in innate immunity against listeria monocytogenes infection in the liver.

IL-17A is originally identified as a proinflammatory cytokine that induces neutrophils. Although IL-17A production by CD4(+) Th17 T cells is well documented, it is not clear whether IL-17A is produced and participates in the innate immune response against infections. In the present report, we demonstrate that IL-17A is expressed in the liver of mice infected with Listeria monocytogenes from an early stage of infection. IL-17A is important in protective immunity at an early stage of listerial infection in the liver because IL-17A-deficient mice showed aggravation of the protective response. The major IL-17A-producing cells at the early stage were TCR gammadelta T cells expressing TCR Vgamma4 or Vgamma6. Interestingly, TCR gammadelta T cells expressing both IFN-gamma and IL-17A were hardly detected, indicating that the IL-17A-producing TCR gammadelta T cells are distinct from IFN-gamma-producing gammadelta T cells, similar to the distinction between Th17 and Th1 in CD4(+) T cells. All the results suggest that IL-17A is a newly discovered effector molecule produced by TCR gammadelta T cells, which is important in innate immunity in the liver.