Expression of interleukin-10 in intestinal lymphocytes detected by an interleukin-10 reporter knockin tiger mouse

Immunity. 2006 Dec;25(6):941-52. doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2006.09.013. Epub 2006 Nov 30.

Abstract

To identify interleukin-10 (IL-10)-producing cells in vivo, we generated a knockin mouse where an internal ribosome entry site (IRES) green fluorescence protein (GFP) element was inserted immediately before the polyadenylation site of the IL-10 gene. GFP fluorescence in cells from these mice was found to correlate positively with IL-10 protein expression. With this model, we found that after multiple T cell receptor (TCR) stimulations, strong expression of IL-10 was produced specifically by intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL) in the small intestine and colonic lamina propria lymphocytes (cLPL). We found that anti-CD3 treatment induces T regulatory cell 1 (Tr1)-like cells in small intestinal IEL (sIEL) and led to the accumulation of naturally occurring regulatory T (nTreg) cells in colonic LPL (cLPL). These findings highlight the intestine as a unique site for induction of IL-10-producing T cells, which play a critical role in the regulation of inflammation in the gut.

MeSH terms

  • Adoptive Transfer
  • Animals
  • Flow Cytometry
  • Forkhead Transcription Factors / immunology
  • Forkhead Transcription Factors / metabolism
  • Genes, Reporter
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins
  • Immunity, Mucosal*
  • Interleukin-10 / biosynthesis*
  • Interleukin-10 / immunology
  • Intestines / cytology
  • Intestines / immunology*
  • Lymphocyte Subsets / immunology*
  • Mice
  • Mice, Mutant Strains
  • T-Lymphocytes / immunology*

Substances

  • Forkhead Transcription Factors
  • Foxp3 protein, mouse
  • Interleukin-10
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins