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Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) is an epithelial-derived cytokine that has been implicated in the initiation of allergic responses. CD4 T cells and dendritic cells are able to respond to TSLP in vitro; however, there has not been a careful dissection of the spatiotemporal response to TSLP by CD4 T cells in vivo during an allergic response. Previous work has suggested a requirement for TSLP in amplifying Th2 responses during allergen challenge by direct action on CD4 T cells; however, these studies did not determine whether there is an effect of TSLP on CD4 T cells during allergen sensitization. In this study we demonstrate an indirect role for TSLP on CD4 T cells during sensitization and challenge phases of an allergic response. This indirect effect of TSLP on CD4 T cells is due in part to the presence of TSLP exclusively in the allergen-sensitized and -challenged skin, rather than the draining lymph nodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) is an IL-7-related cytokine, produced by epithelial cells, that has been linked to atopic dermatitis and asthma; however, it remains unclear how TSLP shapes the adaptive immune response that causes these allergic disorders. In this study, we demonstrate a role for TSLP in a Th2 model of contact hypersensitivity in mice. TSLP is required for the development of Th2-type contact hypersensitivity induced by the hapten FITC in combination with the sensitizing agent dibutyl phthalate. TSLPR-deficient mice exhibited a dramatically reduced response, including markedly reduced local infiltration by eosinophils, Th2 cytokine production, and serum IgE levels, following FITC sensitization and challenge. The reduced response by TSLPR-deficient mice is likely due to decreased frequency and reduced T cell stimulatory function of skin-derived Ag-bearing FITC(+)CD11c(+) dendritic cells in draining lymph nodes following FITC sensitization. These data suggest that skin-derived dendritic cells are direct or indirect targets of TSLP in the development of type 2 immune responses in the skin, where TSLP drives their maturation, accumulation in skin draining lymph nodes, and ability to induce proliferation of naive allergen-specific T cells.

Rearranged Ig V regions undergo activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID)-initiated diversification in sequence to produce either nontemplated or templated mutations, in the related pathways of somatic hypermutation and gene conversion. In chicken DT40 B cells, gene conversion normally predominates, producing mutations templated by adjacent pseudo-V regions, but impairment of gene conversion switches mutagenesis to a nontemplated pathway. We recently showed that the activator, E2A, functions in cis to promote diversification, and that G(1) phase of cell cycle is the critical window for E2A action. By single-cell imaging of stable AID-yellow fluorescent protein transfectants, we now demonstrate that AID-yellow fluorescent protein can stably localize to the nucleus in G(1) phase, but undergoes ubiquitin-dependent proteolysis later in cell cycle. By imaging of DT40 polymerized lactose operator-lambda(R) cells, in which polymerized lactose operator tags the rearranged lambda(R) gene, we show that both the repair polymerase Poleta and the multifunctional factor MRE11/RAD50/NBS1 localize to lambda(R), and that lambda(R)/Poleta colocalizations occur predominately in G(1) phase, when they reflect repair of AID-initiated damage. We find no evidence of induction of gamma-H2AX, the phosphorylated variant histone that is a marker of double-strand breaks, and Ig gene conversion may therefore proceed by a pathway involving templated repair at DNA nicks rather than double-strand breaks. These results lead to a model in which Ig gene conversion initiates and is completed or nearly completed in G(1) phase. AID deaminates ssDNA, and restriction of mutagenesis to G(1) phase would contribute to protecting the genome from off-target attack by AID when DNA replication occurs in S phase.