Phenotypic and Functional Analysis of Regulatory T Cells during Heligmosomoides polygyrus infection

Helminths are known to stimulate regulatory T cells, which have been shown to downregulate inflammatory as well as allergic conditions such as Crohn’s Disease, Ulcerative Colitis and allergic asthma respectively. However, the differences in the Tregs generated during helminth infection compared to steady state natural T regs have yet to be fully elucidated. Classically, in mice, Tregs are defined as CD4+CD25+ T cells. We have demonstrated that, unlike in BALB/c mice, in C57BL/6 animals, infection with the gastrointestinal nematode Heligmosomoides polygyrus does not result in increased CD4+CD25+-mediated suppressive activity. Using two different infection protocols, we characterized the CD4+CD25+ Treg-mediated response to acute and chronic infection from two different gut lymphoid organs, the Peyers patches and mesenteric lymph nodes. Unexpectedly, we found Tregs isolated from infected animals to be equally or less suppressive compared to those from naïve controls. However, we found no difference in the expression of Helios or CTLA-4, markers that play a role in control of the regulatory T cell phenotype and suppress T cell responses, respectively. These data indicate that manipulation of Tregs by helminths are more complex than previously thought and require more investigation into their suppressive profiles.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MSc)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Biological Sciences

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Science

Year dc:date.issued

2018

Author dc:creator

• Bowron, Joel

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Finney, Constance

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• McKay, Derek
• Peters, Nathan

Statement dc:rights

• University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.

Language dc:language.iso

en

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/5363

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ucalgary.scholaris.ca:1880/106282