Differential Involvement of Th1 and Th17 in Pathogenic Autoimmune Processes Triggered by Different TLR Ligands

The interaction between TLRs and their cognate ligands triggers both the innate and adaptive immune systems, and thus can play a pivotal role in the defense against pathogen invasion. This work investigates the differentiation of naive CD4 cells into Th1 or Th17 phenotypes in mice treated with different TLR ligands. We use a model system in which naive transgenic cells specific to hen egg lysozyme are adoptively transferred into recipients that express hen egg lysozyme in the lens of the eye. The transferred naive T cells induce ocular inflammation only in recipients treated with TLR ligands. Treatment with LPS preferentially stimulated IL-17 production, whereas CpG oligodeoxynucleotide and polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid primarily stimulated Th1 cells. Peptidoglycan stimulated the two Th subpopulations equally. The preferential induction of Th1 or Th17 by the four ligands was detected in the spleen (where a major portion of the adoptively transferred cells homed) and in the eyes, where activated Th cells initiate inflammation. Analysis of the cytokines present in recipient mice suggests that Th1 induction is elicited by IL-12 and/or IFN-α, whereas Th17 generation is preferentially mediated by IL-6. Importantly, we show in this article that treatment with LPS selectively promoted in the recipient mice the generation of IL-6–producing activated B cells. An inverse correlation was found between the level of regulatory T cells and severity of inflammation induced by the donor cells. Taken together, our data show that specific TLR ligands differentially activate the immune system as evidenced by the generation of distinct Th phenotypes from naive CD4 cells.