Constitutive p40 promoter activation and IL-23 production in the terminal ileum mediated by dendritic cells
J. Clin. Invest. Christoph Becker, et al. 112:693 doi:10.1172/JCI17464 [Go to this article.]

Figure 8
Bacteria in the distal small intestine drive constitutive intestinal IL-12 p40 expression. (a) Western blot for IL-12 p40 of gut samples (D1 plus D2: p; D3 to D4: d) derived from three mice (M1, M2, M3) bred under germfree conditions (control), no constitutive p40 protein expression was seen under germfree conditions. The number of CD11c+ LPDCs in the terminal ileum of germfree mice was comparable to that in the ileum of mice bred under specific pathogen-free conditions, as demonstrated by immunofluorescence analysis (right panel) and quantification of fluorescence-positive cells (not shown). (b) FISH analysis on CD11c-enriched lamina propria cells from the distal small intestine of healthy FVB mice using a universal, FITC-labeled eubacterial oligonucleotide probe (EUB-338) and simultaneous immunocytochemical analysis of IL-12 p40 expression. Three representative high-power fields are shown. Image arithmetic (overlay) demonstrated colocalization of bacteria and p40 protein expression in CD11c-enriched lamina propria cells. The CD11c-enriched lamina propria cells did not express CD8α or CD11b, as shown by double-staining analysis (not shown). (c) FISH analysis of CD11c enriched lamina propria cells of the distal small intestine of healthy p40 promoter transgenic FVB mice using a universal, FITC-labeled eubacterial oligonucleotide probe (EUB-338) and simultaneous immunohistochemical analysis of luciferase expression. Colocalization of bacteria and luciferase protein expression was noted in lamina propria cells. No staining was observed using a control probe (NONEUB-338) complementary to EUB-338 to exclude nonspecific binding (not shown).