Peripheral apoptosis and limited clonal deletion during physiologic murine B lymphocyte development.

Self-reactive and polyreactive B cells generated during B cell development are silenced by either apoptosis, clonal deletion, receptor editing or anergy to avoid autoimmunity. The specific contribution of apoptosis to normal B cell development and self-tolerance is incompletely understood. Here, we quantify self-reactivity, polyreactivity and apoptosis during physiologic B lymphocyte development.

Peripheral death by neglect and limited clonal deletion during physiologic B lymphocyte development.

Autoreactive B cells generated during B cell development are inactivated by clonal deletion, receptor editing or anergy. Up to 97% of immature B cells appear to die before completing maturation, but the anatomic sites and reasons underlying this massive cell loss are not fully understood. Here, we directly quantitated apoptosis and clonal deletion during physiologic B lymphocyte development using Rosa26 apoptosis indicator mice.

Assessing the suppressive activity of Foxp3⁺ regulatory T cells.

Foxp3(+) regulatory T cells (Tregs) balance the mammalian immune system by mechanisms that are yet to be elucidated in their entirety. Methods employed to quantify the regulatory activity of Tregs in vitro are an important tool in cellular immunology, but can be technically demanding and subjected to variation. In this manuscript, we describe in detail a robust Treg suppression assay based on the flow cytometric quantification of both CD4(+) and CD8(+) effector T cell functions.

Selective and efficient generation of functional Batf3-dependent CD103+ dendritic cells from mouse bone marrow.

Multiple subsets of FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 ligand (FLT3L)-dependent dendritic cells (DCs) control T-cell tolerance and immunity. In mice, Batf3-dependent CD103(+) DCs efficiently enter lymph nodes and cross-present antigens, rendering this conserved DC subset a promising target for tolerance induction or vaccination. However, only limited numbers of CD103(+) DCs can be isolated with current methods.

Absence of Siglec-H in MCMV infection elevates interferon alpha production but does not enhance viral clearance.

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) express the I-type lectin receptor Siglec-H and produce interferon α (IFNα), a critical anti-viral cytokine during the acute phase of murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) infection. The ligands and biological functions of Siglec-H still remain incompletely defined in vivo. Thus, we generated a novel bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC)-transgenic "pDCre" mouse which expresses Cre recombinase under the control of the Siglec-H promoter.

Absence of Foxp3+ regulatory T cells during allergen provocation does not exacerbate murine allergic airway inflammation.

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) play a non-redundant role in maintenance of immune homeostasis. This is achieved by suppressing both, priming of naïve cells and effector cell functions. Although Tregs have been implicated in modulating allergic immune responses, their influence on distinct phases of development of allergies remains unclear.