Invariant NKT Cells Act as an Adjuvant to Enhance Th2 Inflammatory Response in an OVA-Induced Mouse Model of Asthma
Fig 6
Adoptive transfer of iNKT cells enhances the Th2 inflammatory response in OVA-induced asthma model.
A. Timeline of the OVA immunization/challenge protocol and the names of the treatment groups (PBS or iNKT cells). B. Purity of the adoptively transferred iNKT cell population. Flow cytometry shows 77.5% of the adoptively transferred cells stained with both PBS-57/CD1d tetramers and monoclonal antibody against TCR-β. C. Histopathological analysis using hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) staining and periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) staining of the lung tissue sections from OVA-induced asthmatic mice treated with adoptive transfer of iNKT cells or PBS. D. Total cell and differential cell counts in the BALF from OVA-induced asthmatic mice treated with adoptive transfer of iNKT cells or PBS were obtained by a standard hemocytometer. N = 4 per group and **P < 0.01. Tot, total cell counts; Mar, macrophages; Eos, eosinophils; Neu, neutrophils; and Lym, lymphocytes. E. Lung goblet cell hyperplasia is expressed as the number of PAS-positive cells per unit of length (mm) of the basement membrane. N = 4 per group and *P < 0.05. F. OVA-specific Ig levels from OVA-induced asthmatic mice treated with adoptive transfer of iNKT cells or PBS were analyzed by ELISA. N = 4 per group and *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01. G. BALF were collected 24 h after the final challenge and cytokine (IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13) production from OVA-induced asthmatic mice treated with adoptive transfer of iNKT cells or PBS was analyzed by ELISA. N = 4 per group and *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01. H. Splenocytes were obtained from OVA-induced asthmatic mice treated with adoptive transfer of iNKT cells or PBS and re-stimulated with 500 μg OVA in vitro. After 72 h, culture supernatants were collected and cytokine production was analyzed by ELISA. N = 4 per group and *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01.