Cutting Edge: Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells Provide Innate Immune Protection against Mucosal Viral Infection In Situ

Dendritic cells (DCs) are powerful APCs capable of activating naive lymphocytes. Of the DC subfamilies, plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs) are unique in that they secrete high levels of type I IFNs in response to viruses but their role in inducing adaptive immunity remains divisive. In this study, we examined...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of immunology (1950) 2006-12, Vol.177 (11), p.7510-7514
Main Authors: Lund, Jennifer M, Linehan, Melissa M, Iijima, Norifumi, Iwasaki, Akiko
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Cell Movement - immunology
Dendritic Cells - cytology
Dendritic Cells - immunology
Female
Herpes Genitalis - immunology
Herpesvirus 2, Human - immunology
Immunity, Innate
Immunity, Mucosal
Interferon Type I - biosynthesis
Interferon Type I - immunology
Mice
Mice, Knockout
Mucous Membrane - immunology
Mucous Membrane - virology
Th1 Cells - immunology
Toll-Like Receptor 9 - immunology
Toll-Like Receptor 9 - metabolism
Vagina - immunology
Vagina - virology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Dendritic cells (DCs) are powerful APCs capable of activating naive lymphocytes. Of the DC subfamilies, plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs) are unique in that they secrete high levels of type I IFNs in response to viruses but their role in inducing adaptive immunity remains divisive. In this study, we examined the importance of pDCs and their ability to recognize a virus through TLR9 in immunity against genital HSV-2 infection. We show that a low number of pDCs survey the vaginal mucosa at steady state. Upon infection, pDCs are recruited to the vagina and produce large amounts of type I IFNs in a TLR9-dependent manner and suppress local viral replication. Although pDCs are critical in innate defense against genital herpes challenge, adaptive Th1 immunity developed normally in the absence of pDCs. Thus, by way of migrating directly into the peripheral mucosa, pDCs act strictly as innate antiviral effector cells against mucosal viral infection in situ.
ISSN:0022-1767
1550-6606
DOI:10.4049/jimmunol.177.11.7510