Allergic disorders, characterized by Th2 immune responses to environmental substances, are increasingly common in children in Western societies. Multiple studies indicate that breastfeeding, early complementary introduction of food allergens, and antibiotic avoidance in the first year of life reduces allergic outcomes in at-risk children. Why the benefit of these practices is restricted to early life is largely unknown. We identified a preweaning interval during which dietary antigens are assimilated by the colonic immune system. This interval is under maternal control via temporal changes in breast milk, coincides with an influx of naive T cells into the colon, and is followed by the development of a long-lived population of colonic peripherally derived Tregs (pTregs) that can be specific for dietary antigens encountered during this interval. Desynchronization of mothers and offspring produced durable deficits in these pTregs, impaired tolerance to dietary antigens introduced during and after this preweaning interval, and resulted in spontaneous Th2 responses. These effects could be rescued by pTregs from the periweaning colon or by Tregs generated in vitro using periweaning colonic antigen-presenting cells. These findings demonstrate that mothers and their offspring are synchronized for the development of a balanced immune system.
Kathryn A. Knoop, Keely G. McDonald, Paige E. Coughlin, Devesha H. Kulkarni, Jenny K. Gustafsson, Brigida Rusconi, Vini John, I. Malick Ndao, Avraham Beigelman, Misty Good, Barbara B. Warner, Charles O. Elson, Chyi-Song Hsieh, Simon P. Hogan, Phillip I. Tarr, Rodney D. Newberry
Usage data is cumulative from February 2024 through February 2025.
Usage | JCI | PMC |
---|---|---|
Text version | 634 | 157 |
115 | 74 | |
Figure | 262 | 7 |
Supplemental data | 63 | 4 |
Citation downloads | 50 | 0 |
Totals | 1,124 | 242 |
Total Views | 1,366 |
Usage information is collected from two different sources: this site (JCI) and Pubmed Central (PMC). JCI information (compiled daily) shows human readership based on methods we employ to screen out robotic usage. PMC information (aggregated monthly) is also similarly screened of robotic usage.
Various methods are used to distinguish robotic usage. For example, Google automatically scans articles to add to its search index and identifies itself as robotic; other services might not clearly identify themselves as robotic, or they are new or unknown as robotic. Because this activity can be misinterpreted as human readership, data may be re-processed periodically to reflect an improved understanding of robotic activity. Because of these factors, readers should consider usage information illustrative but subject to change.