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Updated: Dec 25, 2025

Isolation of Group 2 Innate Lymphoid Cells from Mouse Nasal Mucosa to Detect the Expression of CD226
Published on: May 10, 2022
Type 2 innate lymphoid cells inhibit the differentiation of osteoclasts and protect from ovariectomy-induced bone
Yasunori Omata1, Michael Frech2, Sébastien Lucas2
1Department of Internal Medicine 3, Rheumatology and Immunology, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) and Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany; Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan; Deutsches Zentrum für Immuntherapie (DZI), Germany.
Abstract:
While the role of T cells in the regulation of bone homeostasis is well defined, little is known about the role of innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) on bone. ILCs are innate immune cells that share cytokine expression patterns with T cells but lack the T cell receptor. In this study we show that type 2 ILCs (ILC2) potently inhibit the generation of bone resorbing osteoclasts in vitro as well as favorably influence bone homeostasis under steady state conditions in vivo using loss and gain of function models. Furthermore, adoptive transfer of ILC2 completely abrogated ovariectomy-induced bone loss by significantly down-regulating osteoclast numbers in vivo. The suppressive effects of ILC2s on osteoclasts in vitro and in vivo as well as the protection from ovariectomy-induced bone loss were linked to their expression of IL-4 and IL-13 as well as STAT6 activation on the myeloid target cell, since deletion of IL-4/IL-13 in ILC2s or STAT6 in osteoclast precursors abrogated the anti-osteoclastogenic effect of ILC2s. Taken together, these findings show that ILC2 have to be considered as potent regulators of bone homeostasis.
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