Conjunctival macrophages act as antigen-presenting cells in the conjunctiva during the development of experimental allergic conjunctivitis

摘要

Purpose: Antigen (Ag)-presenting cells(APCs) participate in the development of allergic conjunctivitis (AC).However, the conjunctival APCs that take up Ag in AC have not beenidentified. We sought to clarify the phenotypes of conjunctival APCsthat take up, process, and present Ag to T cells during the developmentof experimental AC. Methods: Splenocytes from na?veovalbumin (OVA)-specific T cell receptor transgenic (DO11.10) mice werestimulated with either OVA, gold, or OVA-gold to evaluatestimulation-induced proliferation. Na?ve DO11.10 mice weresubconjunctivally injected with PBS, gold, or OVA-gold. Twenty-fourhours later, conjunctivas were harvested for immunohistochemistry andelectron microscopy to identify cells that engulfed OVA-gold. Results: Stimulation of DO11.10splenocytes with OVA-gold but not gold alone induced similar levels ofproliferation as OVA alone. Subconjunctival injection of OVA-gold, butnot gold alone, induced infiltration of eosinophils and CD4-positive Tcells into the conjunctiva. The cells that took up OVA-gold into theircytoplasma expressed Cluster of Differentiation (CD) 11b, CD68, majorhistocompatibility complex (MHC) class II. Conclusions: It appears thatconjunctival macrophages are APCs in the development of experimentalAC.