Effects of α-GalCer on the number and activity of lung iNKT cells and airway inflammation in mice

CHEN Qianhui; NIE Hanxiang; GUO Xuxue; CHEN Shuo; LIU Linlin

doi:10.13431/j.cnki.immunol.j.20170130

Abstract：In order to investigate the effects of α-GalCer on the number and activity of lung iNKT cells and airway inflammation in mice,twelve wild-type (WT) Balb/c mice were randomly divided into PBS treatment group (n=6) and α-GalCer treatment group (n=6),and 12 CD1d-/-Balb/c mice were randomly selected as α-GalCer treatment group (n=6) and PBS treatment group (n=6).The mice in α-GalCer treatment groups including WT and CD1d-/-mice were received a single intraperitoneal injection of 2 μg α-GalCer,while the mice in PBS treatment groups including WT and CD1d-/-mice were injected intraperitoneally with the identical volume of PBS.The percentages of lung iNKT cells,IL-4 + and IFN-γ+ iNKT cells were detected by flow cytometry;the airway inflammation was analyzed by lung histology,while goblet cell hyperplasia,total cell count and differential cell count in bronchial lavage (BALF),the concentrations of IL-4,IL-5,and IL-13 in BALF and splenocyte culture supernatant were measured using HE,PAS staining,May-Grueuwald Giemsa,and ELISA,respectively.Level of IL-10 in BALF was measured by ELISA.Date showed that a single intraperitoneal injection of α-GalCer in WT Balb/c mice could enhance the number of lung iNKT cells and IL-4-and IFN-γ-producing lung iNKT cells,compared with the PBS treatment (P＜0.05);compared with the PBS administration,α-GalCer treatment did not result in lung goblet cell hyperplasia and infiltration of inflammatory cells in the airways of WT Balb/c mice.No difference was found in total cell counts and differential cell counts in the BALF,and the concentrations of IL-4,IL-5,and IL-13 in the BALF and splenocyte culture supernatant between mice treated with PBS and α-GalCer (P＞ 0.05).Furthermore,the level of IL-10 in the BALF was significantly higher in the α-GalCer treatment group than that in the normal control group (P＜0.01),but the level of IL-10 in the BALF was similar between CD1d-/--Balb/c mice treated with α-GalCer and PBS and WT-Balb/c mice treated with PBS (P＞0.05).In conclusion,intraperitoneal injection of α-GalCer can promote the number and activity of lung iNKT cells,but can not result in airway inflammation in mice.