2A). Of particular interest, we found that the expression of RORc, a key transcription factor in the Th17 cell lineage, was also significantly up-regulated in liver tissue from chronic HCV patients (Fig. 2B). Selleck Y27632 To precisely define the cellular source of TSLP, we carried out immunofluorescence staining of liver tissues from chronic HCV patients. As shown in Fig. 2C (panels P1 to P4), there was extensive fibrosis (indicated by collagen-red staining) in the

interlobular regions of the liver biopsies from HCV patients as well as intense cellular infiltration in the areas of fibrosis. As expected, in biopsies from individuals without chronic disease there was no staining of collagen reticulin fibers and minimal collagen deposition in liver stromal elements (Fig. 2C, N1 and N2). Cytokeratins are proteins of keratin-containing intermediate filaments found

in the intracytoplasmic cytoskeleton of epithelial tissue. Human TSLP was found to be expressed by epithelial cells in the peripheral mucosal-associated lymphoid tissue, where it activates myeloid dendritic cells to induce a strong TH2 response in vivo and in vitro.20 Strikingly, a significant selleck kinase inhibitor production of TSLP was found in the liver of HCV patients but not in those of normal individuals (Fig. 2D). TSLP staining was largely, if not exclusively, localized to hepatocytes because TSLP staining was found within hepatic lobules and colocalized with cytokeratin, a hepatocyte marker (arrows). Minimal TSLP staining was found in 上海皓元医药股份有限公司 the fibrotic interlobular septa. In contrast, staining of normal and patient samples with control Ab showed little staining, indicating that the staining is specific for TSLP. Taken together, these results indicate that TSLP is indeed produced

by hepatocytes in patients with chronic HCV infection. Furthermore, TSLP production in this tissue might be responsible for inducing the expression of Th17 differentiating cytokines and a transcription regulator, RORc, associated with CD4+ Th17 differentiation. In the host response to HCV infection IPS-1 has been reported to localize in the mitochondria and plays a critical role in the activation of IFN regulatory factor-3 (IRF-3) and NFκB. To understand the mechanism of TSLP induction by JFH-1-infected cells, we first assessed the ability of IPS-1 to trigger the TSLP promoter, which is located 4.0 kb upstream at the start of transcription (pGL3-b+hTSLP-full) in human Huh 7.5.1 cells. Overexpression of wildtype IPS-1 led to enhanced TSLP promoter activity following JFH-1sup infection (Fig. 3A). We next examined TSLP promoter induction by overexpression of wildtype IRF-3. No difference was found in the ability of IRF-3 to express TSLP in response to JFH-1sup (Fig. 3B). We also investigated the effect of overexpression of wildtype NFκB or a dominant-negative mutant of IκB kinase (IKKβ).