CD103+ dendritic cells (DCs) are the major conventional DC population in the intestinal lamina propria (LP). Our previous report showed that a small number of cells in the LP could be classified into four subsets based on the difference in CD11c/CD11b expression patterns: CD11chiCD11blo DCs, CD11chiCD11bhi DCs, CD11cintCD11bint macrophages, and CD11cintCD11bhi eosinophils. The CD11chiCD11bhi DCs, which are CD103+, specifically express TLR5 and induce the differentiation of naive B cells into IgA+ plasma cells. These DCs also mediate the differentiation of Ag-specific Th17 and Th1 cells in response to flagellin. We found that small intestine CD103+ DCs of the LP (LPDCs) could be divided into a small subset of CD8α+ cells and a larger subset of CD8α− cells. Flow cytometry analysis revealed that CD103+CD8α+ and CD103+CD8α− LPDCs were equivalent to CD11chiCD11blo and CD11chiCD11bhi subsets, respectively. We analyzed a novel subset of CD8α+ LPDCs to elucidate their immunological function. CD103+CD8α+ LPDCs expressed TLR3, TLR7, and TLR9 and produced IL-6 and IL-12p40, but not TNF-α, IL-10, or IL-23, following TLR ligand stimulation. CD103+CD8α+ LPDCs did not express the gene encoding retinoic acid-converting enzyme Raldh2 and were not involved in T cell-independent IgA synthesis or Foxp3+ regulatory T cell induction. Furthermore, CD103+CD8α+ LPDCs induced Ag-specific IgG in serum, a Th1 response, and CTL activity in vivo. Accordingly, CD103+CD8α+ LPDCs exhibit a different function from CD103+CD8α− LPDCs in active immunity. This is the first analysis, to our knowledge, of CD8α+ DCs in the LP of the small intestine.

Cerebral malaria is a complication of Plasmodium falciparum infection characterized by sudden coma, death, or neurodisability. Studies using a mouse model of experimental cerebral malaria (ECM) have indicated that blood-brain barrier disruption and CD8 T cell recruitment contribute to disease, but the spatiotemporal mechanisms are poorly understood. We show by ultra-high-field MRI and multiphoton microscopy that the olfactory bulb is physically and functionally damaged (loss of smell) by Plasmodium parasites during ECM. The trabecular small capillaries comprising the olfactory bulb show parasite accumulation and cell occlusion followed by microbleeding, events associated with high fever and cytokine storm. Specifically, the olfactory upregulates chemokine CCL21, and loss or functional blockade of its receptors CCR7 and CXCR3 results in decreased CD8 T cell activation and recruitment, respectively, as well as prolonged survival. Thus, early detection of olfaction loss and blockade of pathological cell recruitment may offer potential therapeutic strategies for ECM.

The Rad17-replication factor C (Rad17-RFC) and Rad9-Rad1-Hus1 complexes are thought to function in the early phase of cell-cycle checkpoint control as sensors for genome damage and genome replication errors. However, genetic analysis of the functions of these complexes in vertebrates is complicated by the lethality of these gene disruptions in embryonic mouse cells. We disrupted the Rad17 and Rad9 loci by gene targeting in the chicken B lymphocyte line DT40. Rad17