IFNγ-inducible Gbp4 and Irgb6 contribute to experimental cerebral malaria pathology in the olfactory bulb.

Cerebral malaria (CM) is a severe and often fatal complication of infection. Although much progress has been made in understanding CM, the precise pathogenesis remains elusive. The olfactory bulb (OB) has emerged as a critical site of immunopathology in experimental cerebral malaria (ECM) models, but its contribution to disease progression is not fully understood.

Targeted labeling and depletion of alveolar macrophages using VeDTR mouse technology.

Alveolar macrophages (AMs) are essential for maintaining lung homeostasis. However, their roles in respiratory infections have been controversial because the methods of depleting them have often suffered from poor cell selectivity. To resolve this problem, we here used VeDTR technology to generate a transgenic mouse line in which AMs can be specifically depleted using diphtheria toxin.

IFN-γ-induced Th1-Treg polarization in inflamed brains limits exacerbation of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.

Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is the most widely used rodent model for multiple sclerosis. Interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and regulatory T cells (Tregs) are individually well known to play beneficial roles in amelioration of EAE. However, little is known about the relationship between IFN-γ and Tregs during the disease.

Tff1-expressing Tregs in lung prevent exacerbation of Bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis.

Bleomycin (BLM) induces lung injury, leading to inflammation and pulmonary fibrosis. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) maintain self-tolerance and control host immune responses. However, little is known about their involvement in the pathology of pulmonary fibrosis.

A genetic method specifically delineates Th1-type Treg cells and their roles in tumor immunity.

Regulatory T (Treg) cells expressing the transcription factor (TF) Foxp3 also express other TFs shared by T helper (Th) subsets under certain conditions. Here, to determine the roles of T-bet-expressing Treg cells, we generate a mouse strain, called VeDTR, in which T-bet/Foxp3 double-positive cells are engineered to be specifically labeled and depleted by a combination of Cre- and Flp-recombinase-dependent gene expression control. Characterization of T-betFoxp3 cells using VeDTR mice reveals high resistance under oxidative stress, which is involved in accumulation of T-betFoxp3 cells in tumor tissues.

10-Hydroxydecanoic Acid Potentially Elicits Antigen-Specific IgA Responses.

The effective antigen (Ag) uptake by microfold cells (M-cells) is important for the induction of an efficient mucosal immune responses. Here, we show that 10-hydroxydecanoic acid (10-HDAA) from royal jelly (RJ) potentially supports M-cell differentiation and induces effective antigen-specific mucosal immune responses in cynomolgus macaques. 10-HDAA increases the expression level of receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB) (RANK) in Caco-2 cells, which suggests that 10-HDAA potentially prompts the differentiation of Caco-2 cells into M-cells and increased transcytosis efficiency.