Regulation of Gut Commensal-Specific T Cell Differentiation by Dendritic Cell Subsets
ORCID
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2036-6697
Date of Award
Spring 5-15-2021
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Degree Type
Dissertation
Abstract
The mammalian gastrointestinal tract can harbor both beneficial commensal organisms important for host health, but also pathogenic organisms capable of intestinal damage. It is therefore important that the host immune system mounts appropriate responses to different intestinal organisms – promoting tolerance to some, controlling the colonization of others, and inducing sterilizing immunity in cases of noxious pathogens. Failure to induce tolerance to commensal organisms may underlie immune-mediated diseases such as human inflammatory bowel disease, while inappropriate tolerance to more harmful organisms has the potential to result in infection, inflammation, or even malabsorption. Adaptive immune responses to intestinal commensal organisms are driven by T cell subsets, the differentiation of which is governed by conventional dendritic cells (cDCs). This dissertation explores the roles of cDCs in the immune responses to two commensal organisms: colonic Helicobacter, and small intestinal Cryptosporidium. These studies revealed that appropriate T cell responses to Cryptosporidium, in contrast to Helicobacter, require a specialized cDC1 subset. Thus, we proposed a model in which Helicobacter-specific T cell tolerance induction by cDCs is ‘recessive’ as it requires all antigen presenting cDC subsets to facilitate peripheral regulatory T cell selection. In contrast, effector T cell differentiation to organisms such as Cryptosporidium by cDCs is ‘dominant’, in which a specific cDC subset drives Th1 cell development.
Language
English (en)
Chair and Committee
Chyi-Song Hsieh
Committee Members
Paul Allen, Kenneth Murphy, Thaddeus Stappenbeck, Wayne Yokoyama,
Recommended Citation
Russler-Germain, Emilie, "Regulation of Gut Commensal-Specific T Cell Differentiation by Dendritic Cell Subsets" (2021). Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2457.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/art_sci_etds/2457