Redundant Role of Chemokines CCL25/TECK and CCL28/MEC in IgA+ Plasmablast Recruitment to the Intestinal Lamina Propria After Rotavirus Infection

Rotaviruses (RV) are the most important cause of severe childhood diarrheal disease. In suckling mice, infection with RV results in an increase in total and virus-specific IgA(+) plasmablasts in the small intestinal lamina propria (LP) soon after infection, providing a unique opportunity to study the mechanism of IgA(+) cell recruitment into the small intestine. In this study, we show that the increase in total and RV-specific IgA(+) plasmablasts in the LP after RV infection can be blocked by the combined administration of Abs against chemokines CCL25 and CCL28, but not by the administration of either Ab alone. RV infection in CCR9 knockout mice still induced a significant accumulation of IgA(+) plasmablasts in the LP, which was blocked by the addition of anti-CCL28 Ab, confirming the synergistic role of CCL25 and CCL28. The absence of IgA(+) plasmablast accumulation in LP following combined anti-chemokine treatment was not due to changes in proliferation or apoptosis in these cells. We also found that coadministration of anti-CCL25 and anti-CCL28 Abs with the addition of anti-alpha(4) Ab did not further inhibit IgA(+) cell accumulation in the LP and that the CCL25 receptor, CCR9, was coexpressed with the intestinal homing receptor alpha(4)beta(7) on IgA(+) plasmablasts. Finally, we showed that RV infection was associated with an increase in both CCL25 and CCL28 in the small intestine. Hence, our findings indicate that alpha(4)beta(7) along with either CCR9 or CCR10 are sufficient for mediating the intestinal migration of IgA(+) plasmablasts during RV infection.