Elsevier

Mucosal Immunology

Volume 6, Issue 4, July 2013, Pages 838-846
Mucosal Immunology

Article
Transcription factor Spi-B–dependent and –independent pathways for the development of Peyer's patch M cells

https://doi.org/10.1038/mi.2012.122Get rights and content
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Abstract

Although many of the biological features of microfold cells (M cells) have been known for many years, the molecular mechanisms of M-cell development and antigen recognition have remained unclear. Here, we report that Umod is a novel M-cell–specific gene, the translation products of which might contribute to the uptake function of M cells. Transcription factor Spi-B was also specifically expressed in M cells among non-hematopoietic lineages. Spi-B–deficient mice showed reduced expression of most, but not all, other M-cell–specific genes and M-cell surface markers. Whereas uptake of Salmonella Typhimurium via M cells was obviously reduced in Spi-B–deficient mice, the abundance of intratissue cohabiting bacteria was comparable between wild-type and Spi-B–deficient mice. These data indicate that there is a small M-cell population with developmental regulation that is Spi-B independent; however, Spi-B is probably a candidate master regulator of M-cell functional maturation and development by another pathway.

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Published online: 5 12 2012

SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL is linked to the online version of the paper

Supplementary information The online version of this article (doi:10.1038/mi.2012.122) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.