Research Article: Multipotential acceptance of Peyer's patches in the intestine for both thymus-derived T cells and extrathymic T cells in mice

• Published in: Immunology and cell biology Vol. 83; no. 5; pp. 504 - 510
• Main Authors: Takahashi, Satoshi, Kawamura, Toshihiko, Kanda, Yasuhiro, Taniguchi, Tomoyo, Nishizawa, Tetsuro, Iiai, Tsuneo, Hatakeyama, Katsuyoshi, Abo, Toru
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01-10-2005
• ISSN: 0818-9641; 1440-1711
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1440-1711.2005.01361.x

Peyer's patches (PP) are important inductive sites for the mucosal immune response. It is well known that lymphocytes that migrate into PP are mainly of T-cell lineage from thymus-derived cells (i.e. alpha beta TCR super(high) cells). In this study, we further characterized the properties of PP lymphocytes in mice using a mouse model of colitis induced by dextran sulphate sodium (DSS). Although the major site of the inflammation induced by DSS is known to be the large intestine, the small intestine was also damaged. When mice developed DSS-induced colitis, CD3 super(+)CD8 super(+)B220 super(+) gamma delta T cells increased in PP in the small intestine. These gamma delta T cells, which are not seen in the PP of normal mice, resembled intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL) in the small intestine in terms of their expression of CD5, CD103 and Thy1.2. In addition, the V gamma - delta repertoire of these gamma delta T cells was similar to that of gamma delta IEL. When DSS-treated mice were injected with IEL isolated from normal mice, IEL including gamma delta T cells preferentially migrated to PP, raising the possibility that B220 super(+) T cells seen in PP of diseased mice may derive from IEL in the small intestine. Our present study suggests that PP might be able to accept T-cell lineages from intestinal IEL as well as from thymus-derived T cells.