Targeting the Human βc Receptor Inhibits Contact Dermatitis in a Transgenic Mouse Model

Allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) is a prevalent and poorly controlled inflammatory disease caused by skin infiltration of T cells and granulocytes. The beta common (beta(c)) cytokines GM-CSF, IL-3, and IL-5 are powerful regulators of granulocyte function that signal through their common receptor subunit beta(c), a property that has made beta(c) an attractive target to simultaneously inhibit these cytokines. However, the species specificity of beta(c) has precluded testing of inhibitors of human beta(c) in mouse models. To overcome this problem, we developed a human beta(c) receptor transgenic mouse strain with a hematopoietic cell-specific expression of human beta(c) instead of mouse beta(c). Human beta(c) receptor transgenic cells responded to mouse GM-CSF and IL-5 but not to IL-3 in vitro and developed tissue pathology and cellular inflammation comparable with those in wild-type mice in a model of ACD. Similarly, Il3(-/-) mice developed ACD pathology comparable with that of wild-type mice. Importantly, the blocking anti-human beta(c) antibody CSL311 strongly suppressed ear pinna thickening and histopathological changes typical of ACD and reduced accumulation of neutrophils, mast cells, and eosinophils in the skin. These results show that GM-CSF and IL-5 but not IL-3 are major mediators of ACD and define the human beta(c) receptor transgenic mouse as a unique platform to test the inhibitors of beta(c) in vivo.