PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Olszak, Torsten
AU  - An, Dingding
AU  - Zeissig, Sebastian
AU  - Vera, Miguel Pinilla
AU  - Richter, Julia
AU  - Franke, Andre
AU  - Glickman, Jonathan N.
AU  - Siebert, Reiner
AU  - Baron, Rebecca M.
AU  - Kasper, Dennis L.
AU  - Blumberg, Richard S.
TI  - Microbial Exposure During Early Life Has Persistent Effects on Natural Killer T Cell Function
AID  - 10.1126/science.1219328
DP  - 2012 Apr 27
TA  - Science
PG  - 489--493
VI  - 336
IP  - 6080
4099  - http://science.sciencemag.org/content/336/6080/489.short
4100  - http://science.sciencemag.org/content/336/6080/489.full
SO  - Science2012 Apr 27; 336
AB  - Exposure to microbes during early childhood is associated with protection from immune-mediated diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and asthma. Here, we show that in germ-free (GF) mice, invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells accumulate in the colonic lamina propria and lung, resulting in increased morbidity in models of IBD and allergic asthma as compared with that of specific pathogen-free mice. This was associated with increased intestinal and pulmonary expression of the chemokine ligand CXCL16, which was associated with increased mucosal iNKT cells. Colonization of neonatal—but not adult—GF mice with a conventional microbiota protected the animals from mucosal iNKT accumulation and related pathology. These results indicate that age-sensitive contact with commensal microbes is critical for establishing mucosal iNKT cell tolerance to later environmental exposures.