Group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s), implicated in type 2 inflammation, mainly participate in response to helminth infection, allergic diseases, metabolic homeostasis, and tissue repair. In this study, a procedure to isolate ILC2s from murine nasal mucosa and detect the expression of CD226 is demonstrated.
With abundant research on group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) published over the years, ILC2s are widely known to be implicated in regulating various pathological processes, including anti-helminth immunity, tissue repair, thermogenesis, and autoimmune diseases such as asthma and allergic rhinitis (AR). ILC2s permanently reside in peripheral tissues such as the skin, gut, lungs, and nasal cavity; however, there is limited information about their exact functions in nasal mucosal immunity. CD226 is an activating costimulatory molecule, mainly expressed on natural killer (NK) cells, T cells, and inflammatory monocytes. However, whether ILC2s express CD226 or play a role in the pathogenesis of ILC2s-related diseases remains unknown. Here, we established a method to isolate and identify ILC2s from the nasal mucosa and detected CD226 expression on ILC2s obtained from healthy and AR mice. Herein, we describe this protocol for the isolation and identification of ILC2s from mouse nasal mucosa, which will help explore the internal pathological mechanism of immunological disorders in nasal mucosal diseases.
Group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) were first discovered in the peritoneal cavity tissues of mice and were subsequently demonstrated to be present in the blood and other peripheral tissues such as the lungs, skin, and nasal cavity1,2,3. As tissue-resident cells, ILC2s are mainly maintained and proliferated locally and function as the first guards responding to exogenous harmful stimuli through producing numerous type 2 cytokines and inducing type 2 immunity4,5,6. ILC2s can also exert their effects by trafficking toward the infected tissues7,8.
Similar to T-helper 2 (Th2) cells, the complicated regulatory networks of ILC2s ensure their significant involvement in the progression of various type 2 inflammatory diseases, including airway allergic diseases8,9. In asthma, epithelial cell-derived alarmins can activate ILC2s, which further promote pulmonary inflammation through the secretion of interleukin (IL)-4, IL-5, and IL-1310. Clinical studies have also indicated that ILC2 levels were significantly elevated in the sputum and blood of patients with severe asthma, suggesting an association of ILC2s with asthma severity and their function as a predictor of asthma progression11.
Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a common chronic inflammatory disease that affects millions of people annually, and effective treatments for this disease are limited12,13. ILC2s play crucial roles in the pathophysiology of AR, whether in the sensitization phase or symptom generation and inflammation phase14. In patients with AR, the levels of ILC2 in the peripheral blood have been reported to be elevated both locally and systemically15. However, certain effects and the underlying mechanisms of ILC2s on the pathophysiology and progression of AR still require further exploration.
CD226 – a transmembrane glycoprotein that serves as a costimulatory molecule – is primarily expressed on natural killer (NK) cells, T cells, and other inflammatory monocytes16,17. The interaction of CD226 and its ligands (CD155 and/or CD112) or competitor (TIGIT) allows it to participate in the biological functions of various immune cells18. The binding of the ligands on antigen-presenting cells to CD226 on cytotoxic lymphocyte (CTL) promotes the activation of both cells simultaneously, while the activation of CTL can be further suppressed by TIGIT (T cell immunoreceptor with Ig and ITIM domains), the competitor of CD22619,20. A human ex vivo study revealed that CD226 and CD155 on T cells regulate the balance between Th1/Th17 and Th2 through differentially modulating Th subsets21. CD226 can likewise mediate platelet adhesion and NK tumor-killing activity22,23. Meanwhile, CD226 is well-studied in the pathogenesis of various infectious diseases, autoimmune diseases, and tumors18,24,25. At present, CD226 has become a new bright spot for immunotherapy. Studies have found that extracellular vesicles can reverse CD226 expression on NK cells to reinstate their cytotoxic activity and intervene in the progression of lung cancer26. A recent study has revealed a subcluster of fetal intestinal group 3 ILCs characterized with high CD226 expression by single-cell RNA sequencing27, which indicated that CD226 might exert roles in the innate lymphoid cell-mediated immunity.
Our knowledge about ILC2s in airway inflammation is primarily based on studies on asthma; however, little is known about their functions in nasal mucosal immunity. Thus, a protocol was established to isolate and identify ILC2s from the nasal mucosa. The study focuses on the expression of CD226 on ILC2s in nasal tissues and its variation between healthy and AR mice. This may provide novel insights into the underlying mechanisms of ILC2-mediated regulation in the local immunity and serve as a basis for developing new approaches for AR treatment.
All experiments were performed in accordance with the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals Guidelines. All procedures and protocols were approved by the Scientific Research Ethics Committee of the Fourth Military Medical University (No. 20211008).
1. Murine AR model establishment
2. Isolation of mononuclear cells (MNCs) from the nasal mucosa
3. Surface staining for FCM analysis
An OVA-induced murine model was developed to explore the role of ILC2s in AR. The construction of AR murine model was based on previous studies with slight modifications28,29,30,31. A 10 min video was captured to measure the frequency of sneezing and nasal scratching after the last nasal challenge. Allergic symptoms of the OVA-induced-AR mice were presented in Figure 1. The frequency of nasal rubbing and sneezing in the AR mice was significantly higher than in the control group.
Next, we described a procedure to isolate MNCs from murine nasal mucosa and perform their characterization using FCM analysis. About 2-3 x 106 lymphocytes were obtained from each murine nose. The dead cells were excluded by FVD staining. The gating strategy for ILC2s among the isolated cells was Lin (CD11b, CD11c, CD3, and B220)− CD45+ CD90.2+ KLRG1+ cells. All gates were drawn based on isotype or FMO control. Typically, ~2%-3% of Lin− CD45+ cells were identified in the nasal mucosa of healthy control mice (Figure 2). The absolute number of ILC2s in murine nasal mucosa varies from 2,000-4,000.
We then isolated the ILC2s from the AR mice using the above-described method. There was no difference in the absolute numbers of lymphocytes between HC and AR mice. The FCM results indicated that the fraction of ILC2s in the AR mice was 9%-14% of the total number of Lin− CD45+ lymphocytes, indicating a remarkable increase in the number of ILC2s in AR nasal mucosa compared with that in healthy control mice (Figure 3).
We detected the expression of CD226 on the ILC2s. On average, 51.9% of ILC2s expressed CD226 under unimmunized conditions, whereas the average ratio of ILC2s expressing CD226 was 54.8% in the AR mice, which showed a nonsignificant tendency to increase compared with that in control mice. In addition to cell frequency, the cell-surface expression level of CD226 was also determined using mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) that was auto-calculated by FCM analysis software. Interestingly, the MFI of CD226 was significantly upregulated in the AR mice compared with the control mice (Figure 4), indicating an elevated expression of CD226 on the ILC2s of the allergic nasal mucosa.
Figure 1: OVA-induced murine AR model. (A) The schematic diagram of the murine AR model establishment. The frequency of nasal rubbing (B) and sneezing (C) in a 10 min period. Values are presented as mean ± standard deviation (SD) (n = 3). For comparing the two groups, Student's t-test was performed; P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 2: FCM gating strategy for ILC2s. MNCs were isolated as described above. (A) The density graphic demonstrates the distribution of isolated MNCs along the FSC and SSC axes. (B) Singlets were gated based on FSC characteristics. (C) Lin− cells were defined as CD11b, CD11c, CD3, and B220 negative expression to exclude the myeloid cells, B cells, and T cells in MNCs. Dead cells were excluded by means of fixable viability dye (FVD) staining. (D) ILCs are characterized by Lin− CD45+. (E) ILC2s are gated by CD90.2+ KLRG1+ among ILCs. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 3: ILC2s in the nasal mucosa of healthy and AR mice. (A) Representative FCM images illustrate the proportions of ILC2s among ILCs from the nasal cavity mucosa of healthy control (HC) and AR groups. (B) The proportions of ILC2s in Lin− CD45+ cells in HC and AR groups. Values are presented as the mean ± SD (n = 3). Student's t-test was performed for a two-group comparison. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 4: CD226 expression in nasal mucosal ILC2s. ILC2s were characterized using the above-mentioned strategy. The expression of CD226 on ILC2s was evaluated using FCM. (A) Representative histograms of CD226 expression in HC and AR groups; blue area represents the CD226 FMO control. (B,C) The proportions of CD226-positve ILC2s and mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) of CD226 in the HC group and AR group. Values are expressed as the mean ± SD (n = 3). Student's t-test was performed for comparison between the two groups. P < 0.05 was considered significant. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Antibody | Fluorochrome | Clone | Dilution |
CD11b | FITC | M1/70 | 1:100 |
CD11c | FITC | N418 | 1:200 |
CD226 | PE/Cyanine7 | 10E5 | 1:50 |
CD3e | FITC | 145-2C11 | 1:100 |
CD45 | Alexa Fluor 700 | 30-F11 | 1:200 |
CD45R(B220) | FITC | RA3-6B2 | 1:100 |
CD90.2 | PE | 30-H12 | 1:100 |
KLRG1 | APC | 2F1 | 1:160 |
Table 1: Surface staining antibody cocktail.
ILC2s are closely associated with type 2 inflammation and inflammatory disorders, as demonstrated by an increasing number of studies. Both mouse models and human observation contribute to a better understanding of its function in the upper airway. In asthma pathophysiology, ILC2s are activated through thymic stromal lymphopoietin, IL-25, and IL-33, which are mostly produced by epithelial cells. Then mirroring Th2 cells, ILC2s produce IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13 to aggravate type 2 inflammation32. Furthermore, different subsets of ILC2s also produce IL-10 and IL-1733,34,35. AR is also a type of airway allergic inflammation driven by type 2 cells. The participation of ILC2s in AR pathophysiology has been demonstrated recently14. However, the potential regulatory mechanisms of ILC2s under AR remain largely unknown.
Evidence indicates that the interaction between different ILC2s may rely on the surface molecules36. For instance, both ICOS and ICOS-ligands expressed on ILC2s are necessary for their survival and functions37. In addition, ILC2s also express ICAM-1 and LFA-1, which exert important effects on cell migration and cell-cell interaction7,38. In addition, ILC2s can crosstalk with other immune cells through these cell-surface molecules. For instance, OX40L is a dominant mediator for the interaction between CD4+ T cells and ILC2s in lung inflammation39. Because CD226, as a transmembrane costimulatory molecule, expresses on various immune cells, we also evaluated its expression on ILC2s in nasal tissues from healthy and AR mice in this study.
General OVA-induced AR modeling includes intraperitoneally systemic sensitization and intranasally local stimulation, which usually require at least 3-4 weeks to achieve satisfactory modeling results31. Another OVA-induced nasal-only delivery AR model takes a similar time as the general model method to achieve an approximate level of type 2 inflammation and AR symptoms40. However, the number and function of nasal ILC2s by these two AR modeling methods still need further research. We assessed sneezing and nasal rubbing to evaluate AR symptoms. Although it would be more convincing to include the assessment for rhinorrhea, we found it is hard to catch sight of the rhinorrhea without interfering with mice behavior during evaluation, so we regrettably excluded these criteria. In addition, the evaluation for sneezing and nasal rubbing might be profound enough to illustrate the severity of murine AR symptoms for many of the relevant articles that employed only these two criteria41,42,43.
Previous studies about mice nasal ILC2s have described the isolation of murine nasal mucosa44,45. Their protocol is as follows: Briefly, remove the soft tissue around the skull, open the nasal bone to expose the nasal cavity, and scrape the nasal mucosal tissue off the surface of the skull with forceps. While most of the isolated mucosa was used for IF, IHC, or qPCR, little is reported about the following isolation of mononuclear cells (MNCs) and FCM analysis. In this study, considering the low amounts of ILC2s located in the nasal mucosa, the operation retained the maximum volume of the nasal mucosa by digesting the entire nose instead of stripping the mucosa from the surface of the nasal bone. To optimize the digestion protocol, we evaluated three digest media: 0.5 mg/mL of collagenase IV, 1 mg/mL of collagenase IV, and 1 mg/mL of collagenase IV and 10 U/mL DNase I, and compared the percentage of living cells and lymphocyte frequency obtained by these three digest media. The proportion of living cells acquired by all three media has no difference (90%-95%); however, the first two types of digestion were inadequate with lower lymphocyte frequency (~5%). Thus, 1 mg/mL of collagenase IV and 10 U/mL of DNase I were chosen as the digest media in this study. However, other enzymes such as liberase and dispase that may replace collagenase have not been studied. Since the type and concentration of enzymes are critical for cell viability and cell-surface molecule expression46,47, the usage and dosage of these alternatives during nose digestion still need careful exploration and optimization. We used FVD eFluor 520 to check cell viability, because it can be detected using a 530/30 band pass filter which is equivalent to FITC, so we could exclude the dead cells while gating Lin– cells. Other cell viability dyes are also optional according to specific antibody panels. Furthermore, instead of intracellular staining of transcription factors GATA3, which is usually performed in other ILC2-related studies, ILC2s in the present study were characterized based on cell-surface markers such as Lin (CD11b, CD11c, CD3, and B220), CD45, CD90.2, and KLRG1 in FCM analysis. Among them, KLRG1 expressed on ILC2s has been identified as a specific marker of mature tissue ILC2s48,49. Although CD90.2 is less specific, it is still accepted as an ILC2-associated surface marker50. In this study, mice were not distinguished by sex. Research has shown that the abundance and cell-surface antigens of pulmonary ILCs in mice are different in gender, but the correlation of nasal ILC2s with gender still needs to be studied50. In addition, the protocol did not focus on the proportion of other hematopoietic cells. Different FCM antibody panels would help to solve this issue.
This protocol described a method to isolate ILC2s from the murine nasal mucosa. The isolated ILC2s can be stained for FCM characterization, sorted for cell culture, or stimulated in vitro for further analyses. Consistent with the findings of the previous studies10,45,51, a substantial accumulation of ILC2s was observed in the nasal mucosa of AR mice. Notably, CD226 was expressed on local ILC2s, and its level significantly increased further in allergic conditions. Therefore, the findings in this study suggest the involvement of CD226 in ILC2-dependent AR. Whether ILC2s in patients with AR express CD226 and whether the CD226 expression on ILC2s increases in allergic conditions should be investigated in future studies.
In conclusion, we established a protocol to isolate and identify ILC2s from the nasal mucosa and detected the expression of adhesion molecules within them. The protocol requires further optimization; however, the lack of studies that systematically and minutely describe the procedure for isolating and characterizing lymphocytes, particularly innate lymphoid cells in the nasal mucosa, makes this protocol a preliminary reference for researchers exploring the local nasal immunological environment.
The authors have nothing to disclose.
R.Z. was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81871258) and funds provided by Fourth Military Medical University (No.2020rcfczr). Y.Z. was supported by the Natural Science Basic Research Program of Shaanxi (No. 2021JM-081).
Aluminum hydroxide | Meilun biological Technology | 21645-51-2 | |
CD11b | eBioscience | 11-0112-82 | Used in antibody coctail |
CD11c | BioLegend | 117306 | Used in antibody coctail |
CD16/32 | BioLegend | 101302 | Clone: 93; Dilution 1:100 |
CD226 | BioLegend | 128812 | Used in antibody coctail |
CD3e | BioLegend | 100306 | Used in antibody coctail |
CD45 | BioLegend | 103128 | Used in antibody coctail |
CD45R | eBioscience | 11-0452-82 | Used in antibody coctail |
CD90.2 | BD Pharmingen | 553014 | Used in antibody coctail |
Collagenase IV | DIYIBio | DY40128 | |
CountBright absolute counting beads | Invitrogen | C36950 | absolute counting beads |
Dnase | Beyotime | D7076 | |
Fetal Bovine Serum | gibco | 10270-106 | |
Fixable Viability Dye eFluor 520 (FITC) | eBioscience | 65-0867-14 | FVD |
HBSS, calcium, magnesium | Servicebio | G4204-500 | |
KLRG1 | eBioscience | 17-5893-81 | Used in antibody coctail |
NaN3 | SIGMA | S2002 | |
NovoExpress software | AgilentTechnologies | Version 1.5.0 | flow cytometry (FCM) analysis software |
OVA | SIGMA | 9006-59-1 | |
PBS, 1x | Servicebio | G4202-500 | |
PBS, 10x | Servicebio | G4207-500 | |
Percoll | Yeasen | 40501ES60 | density gradient media |
RPMI 1640 culture media | Corning | 10-040-CVRV | |
Spectral cell analyzer | SONY | SA3800 |