%0 Journal Article
%T IL-22 Mediates Goblet Cell Hyperplasia and Worm Expulsion in Intestinal Helminth Infection
%A Jan-Eric Turner
%A Brigitta Stockinger
%A Helena Helmby
%J PLOS Pathogens
%D 2013
%I Public Library of Science (PLoS)
%R 10.1371/journal.ppat.1003698
%X Type 2 immune responses are essential in protection against intestinal helminth infections. In this study we show that IL-22, a cytokine important in defence against bacterial infections in the intestinal tract, is also a critical mediator of anti-helminth immunity. After infection with Nippostrongylus brasiliensis, a rodent hookworm, IL-22-deficient mice showed impaired worm expulsion despite normal levels of type 2 cytokine production. The impaired worm expulsion correlated with reduced goblet cell hyperplasia and reduced expression of goblet cell markers. We further confirmed our findings in a second nematode model, the murine whipworm Trichuris muris. T.muris infected IL-22-deficient mice had a similar phenotype to that seen in N.brasiliensis infection, with impaired worm expulsion and reduced goblet cell hyperplasia. Ex vivo and in vitro analysis demonstrated that IL-22 is able to directly induce the expression of several goblet cell markers, including mucins. Taken together, our findings reveal that IL-22 plays an important role in goblet cell activation, and thus, a key role in anti-helminth immunity.
%U http://www.plospathogens.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.ppat.1003698