B cells exposed to enterobacterial components suppress development of experimental colitis

Esben Gjerløff Wedebye Schmidt, Hjalte List Larsen, Nanna Ny Kristensen, Steen Seier Poulsen, Mogens Helweg Claesson, Anders Elm Pedersen

19 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Background: B cells positively contribute to immunity by antigen presentation to CD4 + T cells, cytokine production, and differentiation into antibody secreting plasma cells. Accumulating evidence implies that B cells also possess immunoregulatory functions closely linked to their capability of IL-10 secretion. Methods: Colitis development was followed in CD4 +CD25 - T cell transplanted SCID mice co-transferred with B cells exposed to an enterobacterial extract (ebx-B cells). B and T cell cytokine expression was measured by flow cytometry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: We demonstrate that splenic B cells exposed to ebx produce large amounts of IL-10 in vitro and express CD1d and CD5 previously known to be associated with regulatory B cells. In SCID mice transplanted with colitogenic CD4 +CD25 - T cells, co-transfer of ebx-B cells significantly suppressed development of colitis. Suppression was dependent on B cell-derived IL-10, as co-transfer of IL-10 knockout ebx-B cells failed to suppress colitis. Ebx-B cell-mediated suppression of colitis was associated with a decrease in interferon gamma (IFN-γ)-producing T H1 cells and increased frequencies of Foxp3-expressing T cells. Conclusions: These data demonstrate that splenic B cells exposed to enterobacterial components acquire immunosuppressive functions by which they can suppress development of experimental T cell-mediated colitis in an IL-10-dependent way.

Original languageEnglish
JournalInflammatory Bowel Diseases
Volume18
Issue number2
Pages (from-to)284-293
ISSN1078-0998
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2012

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