The use of helminth infections as tools to understand the type 2 immune response is a well-established technique and important to many areas of immunological research. The phenotype and function of immune cell populations at the site of infection is a key determinant of pathogen clearance. However, infections with helminths such as the murine nematode Heligomosmoides polygryrus cause increased mucus production and thickening of the intestinal wall, which can result in extensive cell death when isolating and analysing cells from the lamina propria (LP). Populations of larger immune cells such as macrophages and dendritic cells are often trapped within mucus or dying tissues. Here we describe an optimised protocol for isolating LP leukocytes from the small intestine of H.polygyrus -infected mice, and we demonstrate phenotypic and functional identification of myeloid and CD4+ T cell subsets using cytokine staining and flow cytometry. Our protocol may provide a useful experimental method for the immunological analysis of the affected tissue site during helminth infections.

中文翻译：

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来自蠕虫感染的小鼠小肠的固有层白细胞的分离和功能表征。


使用蠕虫感染作为了解 2 型免疫反应的工具是一项成熟的技术，对于免疫学研究的许多领域都很重要。感染部位免疫细胞群的表型和功能是病原体清除的关键决定因素。然而，鼠线虫等蠕虫感染会导致粘液产生增加和肠壁增厚，从而在分离和分析固有层 (LP) 细胞时导致大量细胞死亡。较大的免疫细胞群（例如巨噬细胞和树突细胞）通常被困在粘液或垂死的组织中。在这里，我们描述了从 H.polygyrus 感染小鼠的小肠中分离 LP 白细胞的优化方案，并且我们使用细胞因子染色和流式细胞术演示了骨髓和 CD4+ T 细胞亚群的表型和功能鉴定。我们的方案可以为蠕虫感染期间受影响的组织部位的免疫学分析提供有用的实验方法。