FcγRIIB regulates nasal and oral tolerance:: A role for dendritic cells

Mucosal tolerance prevents the body from eliciting productive immune responses against harmless Ags that enter the body via the mucosae, and is mediated by the induction of regulatory T cells that differentiate in the mucosa-draining lymph nodes (LN) under defined conditions of Ag presentation. In this study, we show that mice deficient in Fc gamma RIIB failed to develop mucosal tolerance to OVA, and demonstrate in vitro and in vivo a critical role for this receptor in modulating the Ag-presenting capacity of dendritic cells (DC). In vitro it was shown that absence of Fc gamma RIIB under tolerogenic conditions led to increased IgG-induced release of inflammatory cytokines such as MCP-1, TNF-alpha, and IL-6 by bone marrow-derived DC, and increased their expression of costimulatory molecules, resulting in an altered immunogenic T cell response associated with increased IL-2 and IFN-gamma secretion. In vivo we could show enhanced LN-DC activation and increased numbers of Ag-specific IFN-gamma-producing T cells when Fc gamma RIIB-/- mice were treated with OVA via the nasal mucosa, inferring that DC modulation by Fc gamma RIIB directed the phenotype of the T cell response. Adoptive transfer of CD4(+) T cells from the spleen of Fe gamma RIIB-/- mice to naive acceptor mice demonstrated that OVA-responding T cells failed to differentiate into regulatory T cells, explaining the lack of tolerance in these mice. Our findings demonstrate that signaling via Fc gamma RIIB on DC, initiated by local IgG in the mucosa-draining LN, down-regulates DC activation induced by nasally applied Ag, resulting in those defined conditions of Ag presentation that lead to Tr induction and tolerance.