The Open Immunology Journal

2011, 4 : 22-30
Published online 2011 October 20. DOI: 10.2174/1874226201104010022
Publisher ID: TOIJ-4-22

Characterization of Intestinal Dendritic Cells in Murine Norovirus Infection

Xiuxu Chen , Daniel Leach , Desire A. Hunter , Daniel Sanfelippo , Erika J. Buell , Sarah J. Zemple and Mitchell H. Grayson
Medical College of Wisconsin, MFRC Room 5064, 8701 Watertown Plank Road, Milwaukee, WI 53226, USA.

ABSTRACT

We have shown that respiratory viral infections drive allergic disease through dendritic cells, whether gastrointestinal viruses induce allergies are not known. Norovirus infections are a major cause of gastroenteritis in humans. We used murine norovirus (MNV) to explore the effect of MNV infection on gastrointestinal conventional DCs (cDCs) and plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs). MNV infection induced disparate effects on cDCs and pDCs in lymphoid tissues of the small intestine and draining mesenteric lymph nodes. FcεRI was transiently expressed on lamina propria cDCs, but not on pDCs. In addition, feeding ovalbumin during the viral infection led to a modest, brief induction of anti-ovalbumin IgE. Together, these data suggest that like with a respiratory viral infection, an intestinal viral infection may be sufficient to induce changes in DCs and the generation of food-specific IgE. Whether this represents a novel mechanism of food allergy remains to be determined.