IFN-γ-inducible protein 10 (CXCL10) contributes to airway hyperreactivity and airway inflammation in a mouse model of asthma

BD Medoff, A Sauty, AM Tager, JA Maclean… - The Journal of …, 2002 - journals.aai.org
BD Medoff, A Sauty, AM Tager, JA Maclean, RN Smith, A Mathew, JH Dufour, AD Luster
The Journal of Immunology, 2002journals.aai.org
Allergic asthma is an inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by eosinophilic
inflammation and airway hyper-reactivity. Cytokines and chemokines specific for Th2-type
inflammation predominate in asthma and in animal models of this disease. The role of Th1-
type inflammatory mediators in asthma remains controversial. IFN-γ-inducible protein 10 (IP-
10; CXCL10) is an IFN-γ-inducible chemokine that preferentially attracts activated Th1
lymphocytes. IP-10 is up-regulated in the airways of asthmatics, but its function in asthma is …
Abstract
Allergic asthma is an inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by eosinophilic inflammation and airway hyper-reactivity. Cytokines and chemokines specific for Th2-type inflammation predominate in asthma and in animal models of this disease. The role of Th1-type inflammatory mediators in asthma remains controversial. IFN-γ-inducible protein 10 (IP-10; CXCL10) is an IFN-γ-inducible chemokine that preferentially attracts activated Th1 lymphocytes. IP-10 is up-regulated in the airways of asthmatics, but its function in asthma is unclear. To investigate the role of IP-10 in allergic airway disease, we examined the expression of IP-10 in a murine model of asthma and the effects of overexpression and deletion of IP-10 in this model using IP-10-transgenic and IP-10-deficient mice. Our experiments demonstrate that IP-10 is up-regulated in the lung after allergen challenge. Mice that overexpress IP-10 in the lung exhibited significantly increased airway hyperreactivity, eosinophilia, IL-4 levels, and CD8+ lymphocyte recruitment compared with wild-type controls. In addition, there was an increase in the percentage of IL-4-secreting T lymphocytes in the lungs of IP-10-transgenic mice. In contrast, mice deficient in IP-10 demonstrated the opposite results compared with wild-type controls, with a significant reduction in these measures of Th2-type allergic airway inflammation. Our results demonstrate that IP-10, a Th1-type chemokine, is up-regulated in allergic pulmonary inflammation and that this contributes to the airway hyperreactivity and Th2-type inflammation seen in this model of asthma.
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