0000000000814568
AUTHOR
Bettina Schreiner
The Cytokine GM-CSF Drives the Inflammatory Signature of CCR2+ Monocytes and Licenses Autoimmunity.
Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) has emerged as a crucial cytokine produced by auto-reactive T helper (Th) cells that initiate tissue inflammation. Multiple cell types can sense GM-CSF, but the identity of the pathogenic GM-CSF-responsive cells is unclear. By using conditional gene targeting, we systematically deleted the GM-CSF receptor (Csf2rb) in specific subpopulations throughout the myeloid lineages. Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) progressed normally when either classical dendritic cells (cDCs) or neutrophils lacked GM-CSF responsiveness. The development of tissue-invading monocyte-derived dendritic cells (moDCs) was also unperturbed upon Csf2r…
Pattern of secondary genomic changes in pancreatic tumors ofTgfα/Trp53+/−transgenic mice
Trp53+/− mice overexpressing Tgfα in a pancreas-specific manner represent a well-established animal model for pancreatic cancer. In this study we analyzed 38 pancreatic adenocarcinomas of these mice for secondary genomic changes by comparative genomic hybridization (CGH), loss of heterozygosity (LOH) analysis, real-time PCR, and methylation-specific analysis. CGH screening of the tumors revealed a recurrent pattern of genomic changes. In more than 50% of the tumors, chromosome 11 was affected. The gain of the proximal part spans about 16 cM, including the genes for Egfr, Rel, and Stk10. The distal part of chromosome 11, which contains the Trp53 locus, was deleted. LOH analysis proved that a…
Fate-Mapping of GM-CSF Expression Identifies a Discrete Subset of Inflammation-Driving T Helper Cells Regulated by Cytokines IL-23 and IL-1β.
Summary Pathogenic lymphocytes initiate the development of chronic inflammatory diseases. The cytokine granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) (encoded by Csf2) is a key communicator between pathogenic lymphocytes and tissue-invading inflammatory phagocytes. However, the molecular properties of GM-CSF-producing cells and the mode of Csf2 regulation in vivo remain unclear. To systematically study and manipulate GM-CSF+ cells and their progeny in vivo, we generated a fate-map and reporter of GM-CSF expression mouse strain (FROG). We mapped the phenotypic and functional profile of auto-aggressive T helper (Th) cells during neuroinflammation and identified the signature and pa…