Abstract
Background: Eosinophils act as a secondary antigen-presenting
cell (APC) to stimulate Th cell responses against antigens. IL-25 plays
an important role on eosinophil activation in allergic asthma. The role
of IL-25 on the classic APC functions of dendritic cells has been
elucidated. However, whether IL-25 facilitates eosinophils for antigen
presentation is unknown. Objective: To elucidate IL-25 on
eosinophils antigen presenting function during allergic asthma and its
related mechanism. Methods: Eosinophils from allergic asthma
subjects were cultured with IL-25 and HDM to identify the co-stimulator
molecules expression. Co-cultures of eosinophils and autologous naïve
CD4+ T cells in the same culture system were to explore whether
eosinophils had the capacity to promote Th cell differentiation in
response to IL-25 engagement. In asthma mouse model, IL-25
-/- mice were exposed to HDM to investigate IL-25
functions on eosinophils during sensitization phase. The impact of IL-25
on the capacity for eosinophil taking up antigens and costimulatory
molecules expression was evaluated. Mouse bone marrow derived
eosinophils (BmEOS) were co-cultured with naïve CD4+T cells sorted from
spleens under HDM and IL-25 stimulation to identify T cell
differentiation. Results: IL-25 upregulated HLA-DR, PD-L1 and
OX-40L expression on eosinophils from allergic asthma patients. IL-25
and HDM co-sensitized eosinophils promoted Th2 differentiation. In
animal model, IL-25 -/- mice experienced restrained
allergic pulmonary inflammation and reduced eosinophils chemotaxis
during early sensitization phase. In vitro, IL-25 promoted antigen
uptake by eosinophils. During BmEOS and naïve CD4+T cells co-culture,
IL-25 accreted the proportion of CD4+Th2 cells, which was absent in
CD4+T cells culture alone. Conclusion: Our data identify a
novel role of IL-25 in enhancing eosinophils antigen presenting capacity
to induce Th2 priming in the context of allergic inflammation.