Schistosome infection promotes osteoclast-mediated bone loss
Fig 5
Tfh cells were identified as a predominant cellular source of RANKL during schistosome infection.
Spleens (SP) and mesenteric lymph nodes (LN) were from wildtype (WT) or ICOSL knockout (KO) mice at 8 or 13 weeks post-infected with or without Schistosoma japonicum. (A, B) Representative flow cytometry data plots and statistics show the distribution of Tfh (red), Treg (blue), Th1 (green), Th2 (purple), Th17 (black) and the other CD4+ T cells (orange) within total RANKL+ CD4+ T cells in mice 13 weeks after infection. Areas represent the means of percentages of Tfh, Treg, Th1, Th2, Th17, and the other CD4+ T cells within total RANKL+ CD4+ T cells in infected mice; (C) Flow cytometry data statistics show the frequencies of RANKL+ Tfh cells with CD4+ T cells in LN and SP of normal or infected mice; (D) Representative flow cytometry data plots show the percentages of Tfh cells within CD4+ T cells in SP and LN in WT or ICOSL KO mice infected with or without Schistosoma japonicum; (E) Flow cytometry data statistics show the frequencies of RANKL+ cells within CD4+ T cells in LN and SP in WT or ICOSL KO mice infected with or without Schistosoma japonicum; (F) Flow cytometry data statistics show the frequencies of RANKL+ cells in LN and SP in WT or ICOSL KO mice infected with or without Schistosoma japonicum; (G) Femurs were isolated from WT or ICOSL KO mice infected with or without Schistosoma japonicum, and analyzed by X-ray. Representative of X-ray images of femurs; (H) Representative μCT images of distal femurs from WT or ICOSL KO mice infected with or without Schistosoma japonicum (top, longitudinal view; second, axial view of metaphyseal region; third, 3D view of metaphyseal region; bottom, axial 3D view of the cortical region); (I) Quantitative assessment of tissue volume (TV), bone volume (BV), bone volume fraction (BV/TV). Data are representative of two independent experiments with 4 mice in each group. *, P<0.05, **, P<0.01, ***, P<0.001, NS indicating not significant.