A reduced population of CD103⁺ CD11b⁺ dendritic cells has a limited impact on oral Salmonella infection

CD103(+)CD11b(+) dendritic cells (DC) are the major migratory DC subset in the small intestine lamina propria (siLP) and their survival is dependent on the transcription factor interferon regulatory factor 4 (IRF4). Mice with a DC-specific deletion of irf4 (CD11c-cre.Irf4 mice) have reduced mucosal CD103(+)CD11b(+) DC and altered T cell differentiation to protein antigen. The influence of CD103(+)CD11b(+) DC on oral infection with the gastrointestinal pathogen Salmonella, however, is poorly understood and is investigated here. We show that, despite being infected with Salmonella, CD11c-cre.lrf4 mice (called Cre(+) mice) conserve the reduction in CD103(+)CD11b(+) DC observed in naive Cre(+) mice, particularly in the mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN) but also in the siLP at day 3 post infection. Moreover, Salmonella-infected Cre(+) mice have a similar bacterial burden in intestinal tissues (siLP, MLN and Peyer's patches) as well as the spleen compared to infected Cre-controls. The T cell compartment, including the frequency of IFN-gamma and IL-17-producing T cells, is not altered in intestinal tissues of Salmonella-infected Cre(+) mice relative to infected Cre-controls. In addition, no difference between infected Cre(+) and Cre-mice was observed in either the concentration of IL-6 or IL-17 in whole tissue lysates of siLP, MLN or Peyer's patches or in the serum concentration of Salmonella-specific IgG and IgM. Overall the data suggest that the reduction of CD103(+)CD11b(+) DC in Cre(+) mice has little if any impact on Salmonella burden in infected tissues or eliciting effector functions important in host survival at later stages of the infection. (C) 2016 European Federation of Immunological Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.