Plasmacytoid dendritic cells in the intestine preferentially produce interferon lambda at homeostasis contributing to tonic localized innate immune responses.

ABSTRACT: The healthy intestine maintains homeostasis in part via immune responses to microbiota, which includes basal production of interferon cytokines. Previous work showed that Type III Interferon (IFN-λ) stimulates localized pockets of interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) in the adult mouse intestinal epithelium at homeostasis that provide preemptive protection from viral pathogens. Here, we demonstrate that a major source of homeostatic IFN-λ production in the intestine is a population of epithelium-associated plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC). Depletion of bacterial microbiota in the intestine also reduces pDC abundance, and pDC depletion or bone marrow reconstitution with IFN-λ-deficient pDC results in reduced expression of homeostatic ISGs in the intestinal epithelium. Notably, intestinal pD

SUBMITTER: Constant DA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12407760 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature