Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells Provide Protection Against Bacterial-Induced Colitis

In conclusion, our data indicates that pDC have a protective role in limiting bacterial load in the gut and helping to maintain the intestinal barrier. As C. rodentium is closely related to the attaching and effacing human pathogens EPEC/EHEC, our work suggests that pDC may also play a role in protection from these organisms. More generally, a role for pDC in maintenance of the gut mucosal barrier and perhaps gut homeostasis would mean these cells may be important in protection from many human gut pathogens. pDC also appeared to regulate the systemic inflammatory response to pathogens released from the gut. Although pDC-depletion was found to ameliorate DSS-induced colitis, our results and those of Mizuno et al. showed that a deficit in pDC led to exacerbation of disease in infection and T cell-dependent models of IBD. Hence, caution is warranted when considering the manipulation of pDC activity in gut pathologies (33). Author Contributions EH and IvD: conceptualization; TR, AB, EH, IvD, and KF: methodology; TR, IvD, and KF: formal analysis; TR and KF: investigation; TR, IvD, and KF: writing–original draft; TR, AB, EH, IvD, and KF: writing–review and editing; EH, IvD, and KF: supervision; AB, EH, IvD, and KF: project administration; EH and IvD: funding acquisition. Funding This work was supported by National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, University of Melbourne, and Australian Federal Government. Conflict of Interest Statement The aut...
Source: Frontiers in Immunology - Category: Allergy & Immunology Source Type: research