The M3 Muscarinic Receptor Is Required for Optimal Adaptive Immunity to Helminth and Bacterial Infection
Figure 4
M3R deficient mice have impaired memory immune responses during secondary infection with N. brasiliensis.
(A) Number of N. brasiliensis larvae recovered from the lungs at day 2 post-secondary infection. (B) Levels of IL-13 and IL-4 in total lung homogenates at day 2 p.i. (C) Intracellular IL-13 and IL-4 cytokine production in lung CD4 T cells at day 2 post secondary infection. (D) Goblet cells in the lungs visualised by Periodic Acid Schiff (PAS) staining and enumerated by Histological Mucus Index (HMI) at day 2 p.i. White bar = WT BALB/c mice, black bar = M3R−/− mice. (E) Recovery of adult worms from the intestines of WT BALB/c mice, alveolar macrophage numbers and expression of YM1 and RELMα after adoptive transfer of 5 × 105 CD4 cells from naïve WT mice, WT mice infected with N. brasiliensis, naïve M3R−/− mice and infected M3R−/− mice, and infection with N. brasiliensis thereafter. Data are shown as mean ± SEM, n = 6 and are representative of two independent experiments. Statistical significance was calculated using the Mann-Whitney two-tailed t test and denoted by *p<0.05, **p<0.01.