1. Secreted proteins from the helminth Fasciola hepatica inhibit the initiation of autoreactive T cell responses and prevent diabetes in the NOD mouse.
- Author
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Lund ME, O'Brien BA, Hutchinson AT, Robinson MW, Simpson AM, Dalton JP, and Donnelly S
- Subjects
- Animals, Autoantibodies immunology, B7-H1 Antigen immunology, Cell Differentiation immunology, Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental immunology, Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental parasitology, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 parasitology, Female, Interferon-gamma immunology, Lectins immunology, Lymph Nodes immunology, Lymph Nodes parasitology, Macrophages, Peritoneal immunology, Macrophages, Peritoneal parasitology, Mice, Mice, Inbred NOD, Pancreas immunology, Transforming Growth Factor beta immunology, beta-N-Acetylhexosaminidases immunology, Autoimmunity immunology, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 immunology, Fasciola hepatica immunology, Helminths immunology, T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory immunology, T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory parasitology
- Abstract
Infections with helminth parasites prevent/attenuate auto-inflammatory disease. Here we show that molecules secreted by a helminth parasite could prevent Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) in nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice. When delivered at 4 weeks of age (coincident with the initiation of autoimmunity), the excretory/secretory products of Fasciola hepatica (FhES) prevented the onset of T1D, with 84% of mice remaining normoglycaemic and insulitis-free at 30 weeks of age. Disease protection was associated with suppression of IFN-γ secretion from autoreactive T cells and a switch to the production of a regulatory isotype (from IgG2a to IgG1) of autoantibody. Following FhES injection, peritoneal macrophages converted to a regulatory M2 phenotype, characterised by increased expression levels of Ym1, Arg-1, TGFβ and PD-L1. Expression of these M2 genetic markers increased in the pancreatic lymph nodes and the pancreas of FhES-treated mice. In vitro, FhES-stimulated M2 macrophages induced the differentiation of Tregs from splenocytes isolated from naïve NOD mice. Collectively, our data shows that FhES contains immune-modulatory molecules that mediate protection from autoimmune diabetes via the induction and maintenance of a regulatory immune environment.
- Published
- 2014
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