Figures
The lower genital tract is a privileged compartment due to regulatory IL-10-producing dendritic cells, preventing Th1 tissue-destructive effector cells.
Confocal image of the accumulation of CD4+ T cells (shown in red) in the female murine genital tract mucosa, counterstained with To-Pro-3 (blue), captured after 24 days of a primary Chlamydia trachomatis infection. This sexually transmitted infection affects epithelial cells and ascends from the cervix to the upper genital tract. T helper subsets are found in distinct anatomical compartments of the genital tract with a dominance of protective Th1 effector cells in the upper genital tract. By contrast, the lower genital tract hosts predominantly Th2 cells, a consequence of regulatory IL-10-producing dendritic cells (see Marks et al., doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1001179).
Image Credit: Ellen Marks, The University of Gothenburg
Citation: (2010) PLoS Pathogens Issue Image | Vol. 6(11) November 2010. PLoS Pathog 6(11): ev06.i11. https://doi.org/10.1371/image.ppat.v06.i11
Published: November 24, 2010
Copyright: © 2010 Nils Y. Lycke. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Confocal image of the accumulation of CD4+ T cells (shown in red) in the female murine genital tract mucosa, counterstained with To-Pro-3 (blue), captured after 24 days of a primary Chlamydia trachomatis infection. This sexually transmitted infection affects epithelial cells and ascends from the cervix to the upper genital tract. T helper subsets are found in distinct anatomical compartments of the genital tract with a dominance of protective Th1 effector cells in the upper genital tract. By contrast, the lower genital tract hosts predominantly Th2 cells, a consequence of regulatory IL-10-producing dendritic cells (see Marks et al., doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1001179).
Image Credit: Ellen Marks, The University of Gothenburg