Past studies have shown that colonic patches, which are the gut-associated lymphoreticular tissues (GALT) in the colon, become much more pronounced in hapten-induced murine colitis, and this was associated with Th2-type T cell responses. To address the role of GALT in colonic inflammation, experimental colitis was induced in mice either lacking organized GALT or with altered GALT structures. Trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid was used to induce colitis in mice given lymphotoxin-β receptor-Ig fusion protein (LTβR-Ig) in utero, a treatment that blocked the formation of both Peyer’s and colonic patches. Mice deficient in colonic patches developed focal acute ulcers with Th1-type responses, whereas lesions in normal mice were of a diffuse mucosal type with both Th1- and Th2-type cytokine production. We next determined whether LTβR-Ig could be used to treat colitis in normal or Th2-dominant, IFN-γ gene knockout (IFN-γ−/−) mice. Four weekly treatments with LTβR-Ig resulted in deletion of Peyer’s and colonic patches with significant decreases in numbers of dendritic cells. This pretreatment protected IFN-γ−/− mice from trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid-induced colitis; however, in normal mice this weekly treatment was less protective. In these mice hypertrophy of colonic patches was seen after induction of colitis. We conclude that Th2-type colitis is dependent upon the presence of colonic patches. The effect of LTβR-Ig was mediated through prevention of colonic patch hypertrophy in the absence of IFN-γ. Thus, LTβR-Ig may offer a possible treatment for the Th2-dominant form of colitis.

Cholera toxin (CT) is a potent adjuvant; however, the mechanism for its ability to enhance mucosal immunity has not been fully elucidated. We report here that CT exerts its adjuvant properties by signaling through the GM1 ganglioside receptor. When ganglioside-defective mice were given the antigen (Ag) ovalbumin (OVA) with CT by the oral route, CT failed to support either OVA-specific antibody or CD4 + T cell responses. In vitro treatment of murine bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (DC) with CT induced full maturation as evidenced by upregulation of the costimulatory molecules, as well as by an enhanced ability to effectively present OVA for Ag-specific T cell responses. On the other hand, ganglioside-defective DC failed to differentiate to full function as Ag-presenting cells in response to CT. Since ganglioside-defective DC showed a mature phenotype after stimulation with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), the effects of CT on DC was independent of signal transduction through adjuvant receptor for LPS, the Toll-like receptor 4. Furthermore, CT also induced nuclear translocation of nuclear factor (NF)-‹ B in DC in a GM1-dependent fashion. These results highlight gangliosides expressed by DC for recognition of the non-self protein bacterial enterotoxin, which employ a unique signaling pathway to induce both innate and adaptive immunity.

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