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Updated: May 26, 2026

Examining the Role of Nasopharyngeal-associated Lymphoreticular Tissue (NALT) in Mouse Responses to Vaccines
Published on: August 1, 2012
Notch-ligand expression by NALT dendritic cells regulates mucosal Th1- and Th2-type responses
Yoshiko Fukuyama1, Daisuke Tokuhara, Shinichi Sekine
1Department of Pediatric Dentistry, The Immunobiology Vaccine Center, The Institute of Oral Health Research, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294-0007, USA.
None:
Our previous studies showed that an adenovirus (Ad) serotype 5 vector expressing Flt3 ligand (Ad-FL) as nasal adjuvant activates CD11c(+) dendritic cells (DCs) for the enhancement of antigen (Ag)-specific IgA antibody (Ab) responses. In this study, we examined the molecular mechanism for activation of CD11c(+) DCs and their roles in induction of Ag-specific Th1- and Th2-cell responses. Ad-FL activated CD11c(+) DCs expressed increased levels of the Notch ligand (L)-expression and specific mRNA. When CD11c(+) DCs from various mucosal and systemic lymphoid tissues of mice given nasal OVA plus Ad-FL were cultured with CD4(+) T cells isolated from non-immunized OVA TCR-transgenic (OT II) mice, significantly increased levels of T cell proliferative responses were noted. Furthermore, Ad-FL activated DCs induced IFN-γ, IL-2 and IL-4 producing CD4(+) T cells. Of importance, these APC functions by Ad-FL activated DCs were down-regulated by blocking Notch-Notch-L pathway. These results show that Ad-FL induces CD11c(+) DCs to the express Notch-ligands and these activated DCs regulate the induction of Ag-specific Th1- and Th2-type cytokine responses.
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