Modulating Mechanisms Of Murine Liver Immune System Involved In Autoimmune Liver Injury

Liver plays a critical role in first-line defense against foreign antigens that enter via the portal veins. The hepatic immune system maintains a well-controlled balance between tolerance and initiation of an immune response. The immune constitution of liver is quite distinct from other tissue or organs, containing a large proportion of resident innate immune cells such as macrophages, NK cells and NKT cells. The considerable abundance of these populations in liver implies important roles of these cell types in liver biology and provides immune surveillance against foreign antigens. When the hepatic immune system becomes unbalanced, the severe inflammation will occur and lead to liver failure. However, up to now, the mechanisms of the cellular interaction involved in the pathogenesis of liver diseases have remained obscure. Our present study aims to investigate the modulating mechanisms of the interaction between hepatic NK cells and NKT/T cells in the pathogenesis of liver injury.In this study, we used Con A (concanavalin A) and poly I:C (polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid) as the immune stimulators for hepatic NKT/T cells and NK cells, respectively. Con A, a polyclonal stimulator for T cells, is frequently and widely used to establish a murine hepatitis model by intravenous injection, which greatly contributes to our current understanding of inflammatory processes in liver injury. The fulminant liver damage induced by an adequate dose of Con A...