The PD-1 checkpoint receptor maintains tolerance of self-reactive CD8 T cell in skin

Abstract

Peripheral tolerance is thought to result from anergy or deletion of self-reactive T cells shortly after antigen encounter. However, the frequent occurrences of immune-related Adverse Events (irAEs) following checkpoint inhibitor (CPI) treatment suggest a hypothesis that immunologically healthy individuals have self-reactive effector T cells that are kept in a non-pathogenic state through checkpoint receptor-mediated suppression, instead of anergy or deletion. We expressed self-antigens in healthy skin and found that antigen-specific CD8 T cells infiltrated the tissue, but remained tolerant, despite having a transcriptional program that resembled effector T cells found after CPIs. These self-reactive PD-1+ CD8 T cells drove IFNγ-dependent increases in PD-L1 on skin myeloid cells. Blockade of PD-1 or PD-1/CTLA-4 led to post-transcriptional upregulation of effector proteins by antigen-specific CD8 T cells and elimination of antigen-expressing epithelial cells, resulting in localized tissue pathology with features of human cutaneous irAEs. This data supports the hypothesis that myeloid cells in healthy skin prevent pathology from self-reactive effector CD8 T cells through the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway.