UMMS Affiliation
Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology; UMass Metabolic Network; Department of Pathology; Horae Gene Therapy Center; Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Pulmonology; Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Immunology and Microbiology Program and MD/PhD Program
Publication Date
2017-01-17
Document Type
Article
Disciplines
Bacterial Infections and Mycoses | Biochemistry | Cell Biology | Cellular and Molecular Physiology | Immunology of Infectious Disease | Immunopathology | Molecular Biology | Pulmonology | Respiratory Tract Diseases
Abstract
Aspergillus fumigatus causes invasive pulmonary disease in immunocompromised hosts and allergic asthma in atopic individuals. We studied the contribution of lung eosinophils to these fungal diseases. By in vivo intracellular cytokine staining and confocal microscopy, we observed that eosinophils act as local sources of IL-23 and IL-17. Remarkably, mice lacking eosinophils had a >95% reduction in the percentage of lung IL-23p19+ cells as well as markedly reduced IL-23 heterodimer in lung lavage fluid. Eosinophils killed A. fumigatus conidia in vivo. Eosinopenic mice had higher mortality rates, decreased recruitment of inflammatory monocytes, and decreased expansion of lung macrophages after challenge with conidia. All of these functions underscore a potential protective role for eosinophils in acute aspergillosis. Given the postulated role for IL-17 in asthma pathogenesis, we assessed whether eosinophils could act as sources of IL-23 and IL-17 in models where mice were sensitized to either A. fumigatus antigens or ovalbumin (OVA). We found IL-23p19+ IL-17AF+ eosinophils in both allergic models. Moreover, close to 95% of IL-23p19+ cells and >90% of IL-17AF+ cells were identified as eosinophils. These data establish a new paradigm in acute and allergic aspergillosis whereby eosinophils act not only as effector cells but also as immunomodulatory cells driving the IL-23/IL-17 axis and contributing to inflammatory cell recruitment.
Rights and Permissions
Copyright © 2017 Guerra et al.
DOI of Published Version
10.1371/journal.ppat.1006175
Source
PLoS Pathog. 2017 Jan 17;13(1):e1006175. eCollection 2017 Jan. Link to article on publisher's site
Journal/Book/Conference Title
PLoS pathogens
Related Resources
PubMed ID
28095479
Repository Citation
Guerra EV, Lee CK, Specht CA, Yadav B, Huang H, Akalin A, Huh JR, Mueller C, Levitz SM. (2017). Central Role of IL-23 and IL-17 Producing Eosinophils as Immunomodulatory Effector Cells in Acute Pulmonary Aspergillosis and Allergic Asthma. UMass Metabolic Network Publications. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1006175. Retrieved from https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/metnet_pubs/92
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Included in
Bacterial Infections and Mycoses Commons, Biochemistry Commons, Cell Biology Commons, Cellular and Molecular Physiology Commons, Immunology of Infectious Disease Commons, Immunopathology Commons, Molecular Biology Commons, Pulmonology Commons, Respiratory Tract Diseases Commons
Comments
First author Evelyn V. Santos Guerra is a doctoral student in the Immunology and Microbiology and MD/PhD programs in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) at UMass Medical School.