Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 19, 2026

Visualization of IL-22-expressing Lymphocytes Using Reporter Mice
Published on: January 25, 2017
Interleukin-22 protects intestinal stem cells from immune-mediated tissue damage and regulates sensitivity to graft
Alan M Hanash1, Jarrod A Dudakov, Guoqiang Hua
1Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10065, USA. hanasha@mskcc.org
Abstract:
Little is known about the maintenance of intestinal stem cells (ISCs) and progenitors during immune-mediated tissue damage or about the susceptibility of transplant recipients to tissue damage mediated by the donor immune system during graft versus host disease (GVHD). We demonstrate here that deficiency of recipient-derived IL-22 increased acute GVHD tissue damage and mortality, that ISCs were eliminated during GVHD, and that ISCs as well as their downstream progenitors expressed the IL-22 receptor. Intestinal IL-22 was produced after bone marrow transplant by IL-23-responsive innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) from the transplant recipients, and intestinal IL-22 increased in response to pretransplant conditioning. However, ILC frequency and IL-22 amounts were decreased by GVHD. Recipient IL-22 deficiency led to increased crypt apoptosis, depletion of ISCs, and loss of epithelial integrity. Our findings reveal IL-22 as a critical regulator of tissue sensitivity to GVHD and a protective factor for ISCs during inflammatory intestinal damage.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Renewal of Intestinal Stem Cells
T Cell Types and Functions
Th1 cells stimulate dendritic cells to express necessary co-stimulatory molecules on their surfaces for...
Cell-mediated Immune Responses
Role Of Notch Signalling In Intestinal Stem Cell Renewal
Direct cell-to-cell contact is needed for the activation of Notch signaling. The signal is initiated when a notch ligand binds to a receptor on an adjacent cell, also...
Inflammatory Bowel Disease II: Ulcerative Colitis
Inflammatory Bowel Disease III: Crohn's Disease

