| First Author | Källberg E | Year | 2008 |
| Journal | Immunology | Volume | 123 |
| Issue | 4 | Pages | 590-9 |
| PubMed ID | 18028376 | Mgi Jnum | J:136452 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3796345 | Doi | 10.1111/j.1365-2567.2007.02733.x |
| Citation | Kallberg E, et al. (2008) A subset of dendritic cells express joining chain (J-chain) protein. Immunology 123(4):590-9 |
| abstractText | Joining chain (J-chain) is well known as an integrated component of dimeric immunoglobulin A (IgA) and pentameric IgM. We show here that the J-chain protein is also expressed in a subset of CD11c+ dendritic cells (DC) in C57BL/6 mice. J-chain knockout mice (J-/- mice) had a reduced fraction of CD4-/CD8alpha+ and mPDCA-1+ DC in the spleen. J-/- mice also had reduced levels of RNA for the immunoregulatory enzyme indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) in the spleen. Furthermore, in lymph nodes from C57BL/6 mice the majority of J-chain-expressing CD11c+ cells also expressed IDO, while the number of IDO-expressing cells in lymph nodes and the amount of IDO protein in splenic CD11c+ cells were reduced in J-/- mice. Also, J-/- mice had a lower ratio of kynurenine/tryptophan in serum compared to C57BL/6 mice, indicating a lower overall IDO activity in J-/- mice. We also show that J-/- mice are less susceptible to tolerance induction than C57BL/6 mice. In conclusion, our data show that J-chain protein is expressed outside the B-cell compartment in a subset of immunoregulatory DC that are compromised in animals that cannot express J-chain. |
