Journal
GASTROENTEROLOGY
Volume 133, Issue 1, Pages 268-277Publisher
W B SAUNDERS CO-ELSEVIER INC
DOI: 10.1053/j.gastro.2007.04.031
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Funding
- NIDDK NIH HHS [DK64008, DK064403, R01 DK064008-04, R01 DK064008, R24 DK064403] Funding Source: Medline
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Background & Aims: Lymphocytes populate the livers of infants with biliary atresia, but it is unknown whether neonatal lymphocytes regulate pathogenesis of disease. Here, we investigate this question by examining the role of T lymphocytes in the destruction of extrahepatic bile ducts of neonatal mice using an experimental model of biliary atresia. Methods: Inoculation of neonatal mice with rhesus rotavirus followed by multistaining flow cytometry to quantify expression of interferon-gamma by hepatic lymphocytes, and real-time polymerase chain reaction for mRNA expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines. This was followed by determining the consequences of antibody-mediated depletion of lymphocyte subtypes on the development of biliary obstruction, and coculture and cell transfer experiments to investigate the effector role of lymphocyte subtypes on neonatal biliary disease. Results: Rotavirus infection results in overexpression of interferon-gamma by neonatal hepatic T cells. Among these cells, depletion of CD4+ cells did not change the course of inflammatory injury and obstruction of neonatal bile ducts. In contrast, loss of CD8(+) cells remarkably suppressed duct injury, prevented luminal obstruction, and restored bile flow. Coculture experiments showed that rotavirus-primed, but not naive, CD8(+) cells were cytotoxic to cholangiocytes. In adoptive transfer experiments, we found that primed CD8(+) cells preferentially homed to extrahepatic bile ducts of neonatal mice and invaded their epithelial lining. Conclusions: Primed neonatal CD8(+) cells can activate a pro-inflammatory program, target diseased and healthy duct epithelium, and drive the phenotypic expression of biliary atresia, thus constituting a potential therapeutic target to halt disease progression.
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