Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 May;52(5):717-729.
doi: 10.1002/eji.202149639. Epub 2022 Feb 13.

Innate lymphoid cell characterization in the rat and their correlation to gut commensal microbes

Amanda Sudworth  1 , Filip M Segers  2 , Bahtiyar Yilmaz  3 , Naomi C Guslund  4 , Andrew J Macpherson  3 , Erik Dissen  5 , Shuo-Wang Qiao  4 , Marit Inngjerdingen  1   2
Affiliations
Free article

Innate lymphoid cell characterization in the rat and their correlation to gut commensal microbes

Amanda Sudworth et al. Eur J Immunol. 2022 May.
Free article

Abstract

Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) are important for tissue immune homeostasis, and are thoroughly characterized in mice and humans. Here, we have performed in-depth characterization of rat ILCs. Rat ILCs were identified based on differential expression of transcription factors and lack of lineage markers. ILC3s represented the major ILC population of the small intestine, while ILC2s were infrequent but most prominent in liver and adipose tissue. Two major subsets of group 1 ILCs were defined. Lineage- T-bet+ Eomes+ cells were identified as conventional NK cells, while lineage- T-bet+ Eomes- cells were identified as the probable rat counterpart of ILC1s based on their selective expression of the ILC marker CD200R. Rat ILC1s were particularly abundant in liver and intestinal tissues, and were functionally similar to NK cells. Single-cell transcriptomics of spleen and liver cells confirmed the main division of NK cells and ILC1-like cells, and demonstrated Granzyme A as an additional ILC1 marker. We further report differential distributions of NK cells and ILCs along the small and large intestines, and the association of certain bacterial taxa to frequencies of ILCs. In conclusion, we provide a framework for future studies of ILCs in diverse rat experimental models, and novel data on the potential interplay between commensals and intestinal ILCs.

Keywords: ILC; NK cells; microbiome; rat.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Vivier, E., Artis, D., Colonna, M., Diefenbach, A., Di Santo, J. P., Eberl, G., Koyasu, S. et al., Innate lymphoid cells: 10 years on. Cell 2018. 174: 1054-1066.
    1. Stehle, C., Hernández, D. C. and Romagnani, C., Innate lymphoid cells in lung infection and immunity. Immunol. Rev. 2018. 286: 102-119.
    1. Gasteiger, G., Fan, X., Dikiy, S., Lee, S. Y. and Rudensky, A. Y., Tissue residency of innate lymphoid cells in lymphoid and nonlymphoid organs. Science 2015. 350: 981-985.
    1. Di Censo, C., Marotel, M., Mattiola, I., Müller, L., Scarno, G., Pietropaolo, G., Peruzzi, G. et al., Granzyme A and CD160 expression delineates ILC1 with graded functions in the mouse liver. Eur. J. Immunol. 2021. 51: 2568-2575.
    1. Friedrich, C., Taggenbrock, R. L., Doucet-Ladevèze, R., Golda, G., Moenius, R., Arampatzi, P., Kragten, N. A. et al., Effector differentiation downstream of lineage commitment in ILC1s is driven by Hobit across tissues. Nat. Immunol. 2021. 22: 1256-1267.

Publication types