Date of Award
5-22-2024
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Biology
First Advisor
Joseph Dolence
Committee Members
Kim Carlson; Nicholas Hobbs; Sharon Obasi
Keywords
peanut allergies; immune system
Abstract
Knowledge of the immunological mechanisms involved in the development of peanut (PN) allergy remains unclear. Analysis of US adults showed that females were twice as likely to develop PN allergy during childhood, indicating sex hormones may regulate PN allergic responses. This study aims to understand the role of sex hormones in the response of mast cells (MCs) and Type 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) to PN. Previously, androgen receptor-deficient (ARTfm) mice showed higher levels of PN-specific antibody and worse anaphylactic response to PN than wild type (WT) males. WT males also displayed less severe anaphylactic response compared to ARTfm and WT females. We examined whether sex differences impacted the response of lung and peritoneal cavity MCs after 3-day inhalation exposure to understand how MCs initially respond to PN in WT male, female, and ARTfm mice. Activated MCs have been shown to further activate ILC2s. Whether this occurs following PN exposure is unknown. After 3 days, we found no sex difference in lung and peritoneal MCs population in WT male, female, and ARTfm mice even though we showed ILC2s display a greater response to PN in WT female mice. Additionally, after using our 11-day PN inhalation model we found slight activation of MCs population in lung. Furthermore, we found ILC2 being activated and being impacted by sex differences. Regarding the relationship between MCs and ILC2, we found that PN-activated ILC2s at 11 days displayed increased expression of TNFR2. While recent studies have shown mast cells may work to further activate ILC2 through TNF-a, this connection is unknown in PN-specific immune responses. Future studies will examine whether TNF-a produced by mast cells following PN exposure activates ILC2 in a TNFR2-dependent manner. These findings create a foundation that will allow us to better understand how sex hormones modulate the immune responses to PN.
Recommended Citation
Rajput, Sunanda, "Sex Differences in Innate Immune Response Following Peanut Exposure" (2024). Biology Theses, Dissertations, and Student Creative Activity. 18.
https://openspaces.unk.edu/bio-etd/18