Ablation of Mina53 in mice reduces allergic response in the airways

The mina53 (myc-induced nuclear antigen with a 53 kDa molecular mass; also known as mina) was identified as a direct transcriptional target of the oncoprotein Myc and encodes a conserved protein in vertebrates. While Mina53 is known to be associated with tumorigenesis, it is not clear what role Mina53 plays in non-neoplastic tissues. To directly address the roles of Mina53 in non-neoplastic tissues, we created mina53-deficient mice. Both male and female mina53-deficient mice reached adulthood and were fertile, suggesting that Mina53 is dispensable for the basic developmental processes. Since we found that Mina53 was expressed in cells responsible for immune responses, we investigated whether Mina53 was involved in immune responses. When mice were exposed intranasally to house dust mites as an allergen, the airway tract showed hyperresponsiveness to methacholine in wild-type mice but not in mina53-deficient mice. The mina53-deficient mice also showed a significantly reduced migration of immune cells, including eosinophils, into bronchoalveolar lavage fluid compared with wild-type mice. The levels of Th2 cytokines, IL-4 and IL-5, produced in response to house dust mites were lower in the mina53-deficient mice than in wild-type mice. The level of IFN-γ in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid was significantly decreased by exposure to house dust mites in wild-type mice but not in the mina53-deficient mice. These results suggest that Mina53 plays a role in the allergic response to inhaled allergens, possibly through controlling IL-4 production.