Impaired Accumulation of Antigen-Specific CD8 Lymphocytes in Chemokine CCL25-Deficient Intestinal Epithelium and Lamina Propria

Abstract

CCL25 and CCR9 constitute a chemokine/receptor pair involved in T cell development and in gut-associated immune responses. In this study, we generated CCL25−/− mice to answer questions that could not be addressed with existing CCR9−/− mice. Similar phenotypes were observed for both CCL25−/− and CCR9−/− mice, consistent with the notion that CCL25 and CCR9 interact with each other exclusively. We assessed the requirement for CCL25 in generating CCR9high CD8 intestinal memory-phenotype T cells and the subsequent accumulation of these cells within effector sites. TCR-transgenic naive CD8 T cells were transferred into wild-type or CCL25-deficient hosts. Oral sensitization with Ag allowed these naive donor cells to efficiently differentiate into CCR9high memory-phenotype cells within the mesenteric lymph nodes of wild-type hosts. This differentiation event occurred with equal efficiency in the MLN of CCL25-deficient hosts, demonstrating that CCL25 is not required to induce the CCR9high memory phenotype in vivo. However, we found that CCL25 deficiency severely impaired the Ag-dependent accumulation of donor-derived CD8 T cells within both lamina propria and epithelium of the small intestine. Thus, although CCL25 is not necessary for generating memory-phenotype CD8 T cells with “gut-homing” properties, this chemokine is indispensable for their trafficking to the small intestine.