Chronic schistosomiasis during pregnancy epigenetically reprograms T‐cell differentiation in offspring of infected mothers. Issue 5 (11th April 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Klar, Kathrin; Perchermeier, Sophie; Bhattacharjee, Sonakshi; Harb, Hani; Adler, Thure; Istvanffy, Rouzanna; Loffredo‐Verde, Eva; Oostendorp, Robert A.; Renz, Harald; Prazeres da Costa, Clarissa
• Is Part Of: European journal of immunology. Volume 47:Issue 5(2017)
• Page Start: 841
• Page End: 847
• Publication Date: 2017-04-11
• Subjects: Epigenetic histone modification -- In utero programming -- Maternal helminth infection -- Schistosomiasis -- T‐cell differentiation; Immunology -- Periodicals; 616.079
• DOI: 10.1002/eji.201646836
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0014-2980

Abstract

Abstract : Chronic infection with the helminth Schistosoma mansoni during pregnancy leads to suppressed Th2 and enhanced Th1 cell differentiation of naïve CD4 + CD62L + T cells. The underlying mechanism can partially be attributed to distinct epigenetic changes in promotor regions of Th2 related genes within the naïve T‐cell compartment. These results provide further insights into the transgenerational impact of helminth‐induced immune regulation. Abstract : Schistosomiasis is a nontransplacental helminth infection. Chronic infection during pregnancy suppresses allergic airway responses in offspring. We addressed the question whether in utero exposure to chronic schistosome infection (Reg phase) in mice affects B‐cell and T‐cell development. Therefore, we focused our analyses on T‐cell differentiation capacity induced by epigenetic changes in promoter regions of signature cytokines in offspring. Here, we show that naïve T cells from offspring of schistosome infected female mice had a strong capacity to differentiate into TH 1 cells, whereas TH 2 differentiation was impaired. In accordance, reduced levels of histone acetylation of the IL‐4 promoter regions were observed in naïve T cells. To conclude, our mouse model revealed distinct epigenetic changes within the naïve T‐cell compartment affecting TH 2 and TH 1 cell differentiation in offspring of mothers with chronic helminth infection. These findings could eventually help understand how helminths alter T‐cell driven immune responses induced by allergens, bacterial or viral infections, as well as vaccines.