Neutralization of either IL-17A or IL-17F is sufficient to inhibit house dust mite induced allergic asthma in mice.

T helper (Th)17 immune response participates in allergic lung inflammation and asthma is reduced in the absence of interleukin (IL)-17 in mice. Since IL-17A and IL-17F are induced and bind the shared receptor IL-17RA, we asked whether both IL-17A and IL-17F contribute to house dust mite (HDM) induced asthma. We report that allergic lung inflammation is attenuated in absence of either IL-17A or IL-17F with reduced airway hyperreactivity, eosinophilic inflammation, goblet cell hyperplasia, cytokine and chemokine production as found in absence of IL-17RA. Furthermore, specific antibody neutralization of either IL-17A or IL-17F given during the sensitization phase attenuated allergic lung inflammation and airway hyperreactivity. In vitro activation by HDM of primary dendritic cells revealed a comparable induction of CXCL1 and IL-6 expression and the response to IL-17A and IL-17F relied on IL-17RA signaling via the adaptor protein act1 in fibroblasts. Therefore, HDM-induced allergic respiratory response depends on IL-17RA via act1 signaling and inactivation of either IL-17A or IL-17F is sufficient to attenuate allergic asthma in mice.