Age-Dependent Effects of Yolkin on Contact Sensitivity and Immune Phenotypes in Juvenile Mice

Yolkin, an egg yolk immunoregulatory protein, stimulates the humoral but inhibits the cellular immune response in adult mice. Assuming that yolkin may promote maturation of the immunocompetent cells, we evaluated the effects of yolkin on the cellular and humoral immune response (oxazolone and ovalbumin, respectively), in juvenile 28- and 37-day-old mice, Yolkin was administered in drinking water before immunization. The results showed that yolkin had a stimulatory effect on the cellular immune response in the mice treated with yolkin from the 37th day of life but not from the 28th day of life. No regulatory effects of yolkin on antibody production were found in these mice. Phenotypic studies revealed significant changes in the content of B cells and T cell subpopulations including CD4+CD25+Foxp3 regulatory T cells. The results revealed a short age frame in the adolescent mice when the changes in the content of immunocompetent cells  (the increases in helper T cell phenotype and the decrease in regulatory T cells) could explain the stimulatory effect of yolkin on the cellular immune response.The detailed description of the dataset is presented in readme.txt file.The experimental methodology is included in the linked publication.

卵黄免疫调节蛋白Yolkin可在成年小鼠中激活体液免疫应答（humoral immune response），同时抑制细胞免疫应答（cellular immune response）。鉴于Yolkin可能促进免疫活性细胞（immunocompetent cells）的成熟，本研究针对28日龄与37日龄的幼年小鼠，评估了Yolkin对细胞免疫及体液免疫应答的作用（分别以恶唑酮（oxazolone）、卵清蛋白（ovalbumin）作为免疫原），于免疫前通过饮水途径给予Yolkin。结果显示，仅在从出生第37天开始给药的小鼠中，Yolkin对细胞免疫应答具有刺激作用，而出生第28天给药的小鼠未观察到此效应。本研究未在上述受试小鼠中发现Yolkin对抗体生成的调节作用。表型研究显示，B细胞及T细胞亚群（包括CD4+CD25+Foxp3调节性T细胞（CD4+CD25+Foxp3 regulatory T cells））的占比发生显著变化。研究结果揭示，在青年小鼠中存在一段短暂的年龄窗口，此阶段免疫活性细胞的变化（辅助性T细胞表型占比升高、调节性T细胞占比降低）可合理解释Yolkin对细胞免疫应答的刺激作用。本数据集的详细说明见readme.txt文件，实验方法详见所关联的已发表文献。