Blockade of CXCR3 receptor: ligand interactions reduces leukocyte recruitment to the lung and the severity of experimental idiopathic pneumonia syndrome

GC Hildebrandt, LA Corrion, KM Olkiewicz… - The Journal of …, 2004 - journals.aai.org
GC Hildebrandt, LA Corrion, KM Olkiewicz, B Lu, K Lowler, UA Duffner, BB Moore
The Journal of Immunology, 2004journals.aai.org
Idiopathic pneumonia syndrome (IPS) is a frequently fatal complication after allogeneic stem
cell transplantation (allo-SCT) that responds poorly to standard immunosuppressive therapy.
The pathophysiology of IPS involves the secretion of inflammatory cytokines including IFN-γ
and TNF-α along with the recruitment of donor T cells to the lung. CXCR3 is a chemokine
receptor that is expressed on activated Th1/Tc1 T cell subsets and the expression of its
ligands CXCL9 (monokine induced by IFN-γ (Mig)) and CXCL10 (IFN-γ-inducible protein 10 …
Abstract
Idiopathic pneumonia syndrome (IPS) is a frequently fatal complication after allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT) that responds poorly to standard immunosuppressive therapy. The pathophysiology of IPS involves the secretion of inflammatory cytokines including IFN-γ and TNF-α along with the recruitment of donor T cells to the lung. CXCR3 is a chemokine receptor that is expressed on activated Th1/Tc1 T cell subsets and the expression of its ligands CXCL9 (monokine induced by IFN-γ (Mig)) and CXCL10 (IFN-γ-inducible protein 10 (IP-10)) can be induced in a variety of cell types by IFN-γ alone or in combination with TNF-α. We used a lethally irradiated murine SCT model (B6→ bm1) to evaluate the role of CXCR3 receptor: ligand interactions in the development of IPS. We found that Mig and IP-10 protein levels were significantly elevated in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of allo-SCT recipients compared with syngeneic controls and correlated with the infiltration of IFN-γ-secreting CXCR3+ donor T cells into the lung. The in vivo neutralization of either Mig or IP-10 significantly reduced the severity of IPS compared with control-treated animals, and an additive effect was observed when both ligands were blocked simultaneously. Complementary experiments using CXCR3−/− mice as SCT donors also resulted in a significant decrease in IPS. These data demonstrate that interactions involving CXCR3 and its primary ligands Mig and IP-10 significantly contribute to donor T cell recruitment to the lung after allo-SCT. Therefore, approaches focusing on the abrogation of these interactions may prove successful in preventing or treating lung injury that occurs in this setting.
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