Cutting Edge: Chronic Intestinal Inflammation in STAT-4 Transgenic Mice: Characterization of Disease and Adoptive Transfer by TNF- Plus IFN-γ-Producing CD4+ T Cells That Respond to Bacterial Antigens

Abstract

We generated transgenic mice for STAT-4, a regulatory protein specifically associated with IL-12 signaling, under the control of a CMV promoter. These mice expressed strikingly increased nuclear STAT-4 levels in lamina propria CD4+ T lymphocytes upon systemic administration of dinitrophenyl-keyhole limpet hemocyanin and developed chronic transmural colitis characterized by infiltrates of mainly CD4+ T lymphocytes. The latter cells produced predominantly TNF and IFN-γ but not IL-4 upon activation with αCD3/CD28 or autologous bacterial Ags, consistent with a Th1-type cell response. Furthermore, chronic colitis in STAT-4 transgenic mice could be adoptively transferred to SCID mice by colonic and splenic CD4+ T cells that were activated with Ags from autologous bacterial flora. These data establish a critical molecular signaling pathway involving STAT-4 for the pathogenesis of chronic intestinal inflammation, and targeting of this pathway may be relevant for the treatment of colitis in humans.