Mucin is a major component of mucus in gastrointestinal mucosa. Increase of specific
sialomucins having Sda
blood group antigen, NeuAcα2-3(GalNAcβ1-4)Galβ1-4GlcNAcβ-, is considered to be associated with expulsion of the parasitic intestinal nematode Nippostrongylus brasiliensis. In this study, we examined the relationship between
interleukin (IL)-13 pathway and expression of Sda-
sialomucins in small intestinal mucosa with N. brasiliensis
infection.
Nematode infection induced marked increases in small intestinal
mucins that reacted with anti-Sda antibody in wild type (wt) mice. However, this increase due to
infection was supressed in
IL-4 receptor α deficient (IL-4Rα-/-) mice, which lack both
IL-4 and
IL-13 signaling via IL-4R, and severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice, which have defects in B- and T-lymphocytes. Analysis using tandem mass spectroscopy showed that Sda-
glycans were not expressed in small intestinal
mucins in IL-4Rα-/- and SCID mice after
infection despite the appearance of Sda-
glycans in the infected wt mice. Inoculation of recombinant
IL-13 into the infected SCID mice restored expression of Sda-
glycan. Our results suggest that the
IL-13/IL-4R axis is important for the production of Sda-
sialomucins in the host intestinal mucosa with parasitic
nematode infection.