Maria A. Curotto de Lafaille

Natural and Adaptive Foxp3+ Regulatory T Cells: More of the Same or a Division of Labor?

Adaptive Foxp3(+)CD4(+) regulatory T (iTreg) cells develop outside the thymus under subimmunogenic antigen presentation, during chronic inflammation, and during normal homeostasis of the gut. iTreg cells are essential in mucosal immune tolerance and in the control of severe chronic allergic inflammation, and most likely are one of the main barriers to the eradication of tumors. The Foxp3(+) iTreg cell repertoire is drawn from naive conventional CD4(+) T cells, whereas natural Treg (nTreg) cells are selected by high-avidity interactions in the thymus. The full extent of differences and similarities between iTreg and nTreg cells is yet to be defined. We speculate that iTreg cell development is driven by the need to maintain a noninflammatory environment in the gut, to suppress immune responses to environmental and food allergens, and to decrease chronic inflammation, whereas nTreg cells prevent autoimmunity and raise the activation threshold for all immune responses.

Interleukin 2 signaling is required for CD4(+) regulatory T cell function.

Mice deficient in interleukin (IL)-2 production or the IL-2 receptor α or β chains develop a lethal autoimmune syndrome. CD4+ regulatory T cells have been shown to prevent autoimmune diseases, allograft rejection, and to down-regulate antibody responses against foreign antigens. To assess the role of IL-2 in the generation and function of regulatory T cells, we transferred CD4+ T cells from mice genetically deficient in IL-2 or IL-2Rα (CD25) expression. A small number of splenic or thymic CD4+ T cells from IL-2 knockout mice can protect mice from spontaneous experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). In contrast, splenic or thymic CD4+ T cells from CD25 knockout donor mice conferred little or no protection. We conclude that T cells with regulatory potential can develop, undergo thymic selection, and migrate to the peripheral lymphoid organs in the absence of IL-2, and do not protect from disease by means of IL-2 secretion. However, IL-2 signaling in regulatory T cells is essential for their protective function. Altogether, our results favor a model whereby IL-2 induces regulatory T cell activity.

Oral tolerance in the absence of naturally occurring Tregs

Mucosal tolerance prevents pathological reactions against environmental and food antigens, and its failure results in exacerbated inflammation typical of allergies and asthma. One of the proposed mechanisms of oral tolerance is the induction of Tregs. Using a mouse model of hyper-IgE and asthma, we found that oral tolerance could be effectively induced in the absence of naturally occurring thymus-derived Tregs. Oral antigen administration prior to i.p. immunization prevented effector/memory Th2 cell development, germinal center formation, class switching to IgE, and lung inflammation. Oral exposure to antigen induced development of antigen-specific CD4CD25Foxp3CD45RB cells that were anergic and displayed suppressive activity in vivo and in vitro. Oral tolerance to the Th2 allergic response was in large part dependent on TGF-beta and independent of IL-10. Interestingly, Tregs were also induced by single i.p. immunization with antigen and adjuvant. However, unlike oral administration of antigen, which induced Tregs but not effector T cells, i.p. immunization led to the simultaneous induction of Tregs and effector Th2 cells displaying the same antigen specificity.

CD25− T Cells Generate CD25+Foxp3+ Regulatory T Cells by Peripheral Expansion

Naturally occurring CD4+ regulatory T cells are generally identified through their expression of CD25. However, in several experimental systems considerable Treg activity has been observed in the CD4+CD25− fraction. Upon adoptive transfer, the expression of CD25 in donor-derived cells is not stable, with CD4+CD25+ cells appearing in CD4+CD25− T cell-injected animals and vice versa. We show in this study that CD25+ cells arising from donor CD25− cells upon homeostatic proliferation in recipient mice express markers of freshly isolated Treg cells, display an anergic state, and suppress the proliferation of other cells in vitro. The maintenance of CD25 expression by CD4+CD25+ cells depends on IL-2 secreted by cotransferred CD4+CD25− or by Ag-stimulated T cells in peripheral lymphoid organs.

Adaptive Foxp3+ Regulatory T Cell-Dependent and -Independent Control of Allergic Inflammation

Adaptive Foxp3(+) regulatory T (Treg) cells develop during induction of mucosal tolerance and after immunization. Large numbers of Foxp3(+) T cells have been found in inflamed tissues. We investigated the role of adaptive Foxp3(+) Treg cells in mucosal tolerance and in chronic allergic lung inflammation. We used two strains of mice that are devoid of naturally occurring Treg cells; one is capable of generating adaptive Foxp3(+) Treg cells upon exposure to antigen, whereas the other is deficient in both naturally occurring and adaptive Foxp3(+) Treg cells. We found that adaptive Foxp3(+) Treg cells were essential for establishing mucosal tolerance and for suppressing IL-4 production and lymphoid neogenesis in chronic inflammation, whereas IL-5 production and eosinophilia could be controlled by Foxp3-independent, IFN-gamma-dependent mechanisms. Thus, whereas adaptive Foxp3(+) Treg cells regulate sensitization to allergens and the severity of chronic inflammation, IFN-gamma-producing cells can play a beneficial role in inflammatory conditions involving eosinophils.

Regulatory T cells in spontaneous autoimmune encephalomyelitis.

Summary: Spontaneous experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) develops in 100% of mice harboring a monoclonal myelin basic protein (MBP)‐specific CD4+αβ T‐cell repertoire. Monoclonality of the αβ T‐cell repertoire can be achieved by crossing MBP‐specific T‐cell receptor (TCR) transgenic mice with either RAG−/− mice or TCR α−/−/TCR β−/− double knockout mice. Spontaneous EAE can be prevented by a single administration of purified CD4+ splenocytes or thymocytes obtained from wild‐type syngeneic mice. The regulatory T cells (T‐reg) that protect from spontaneous EAE need not express the CD25 marker, as effective protection can be attained with populations depleted of CD25+ T cells. Although the specificity of the regulatory T cells is important for their generation or regulatory function, T cells that protect from spontaneous EAE can have a diverse TCR α and β chain composition. T‐reg cells expand poorly in vivo, and appear to be long lived. Finally, precursors for T‐reg are present in fetal liver as well as in the bone marrow of aging mice. We propose that protection of healthy individuals from autoimmune diseases involves several layers of regulation, which consist of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells, CD4+CD25− T‐reg cells, and anti‐TCR T cells, with each layer potentially operating at different stages of T‐helper cell‐mediated immune responses.

IL-4-secreting CD4+ T cells are crucial to the development of CD8+ T-cell responses against malaria liver stages

CD4+ T cells are crucial to the development of CD8+ T cell responses against hepatocytes infected with malaria parasites. In the absence of CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells initiate a seemingly normal differentiation and proliferation during the first few days after immunization. However, this response fails to develop further and is reduced by more than 90%, compared to that observed in the presence of CD4+ T cells. We report here that interleukin-4 (IL-4) secreted by CD4+ T cells is essential to the full development of this CD8+ T cell response. This is the first demonstration that IL-4 is a mediator of CD4/CD8 cross-talk leading to the development of immunity against an infectious pathogen.

Beta-catenin stabilization extends regulatory T cell survival and induces anergy in nonregulatory T cells.

β-catenin is a central molecule in the Wnt pathway. Expression of a stable form of β-catenin on CD4+CD25+ regulatory T (Treg) cells resulted in a marked enhancement of survival of these cells in vitro. Furthermore, stable β-catenin–expressing CD4+CD25+ Treg cells outcompeted control Treg cells in vivo, and the number of Treg cells necessary for protection against inflammatory bowel disease could be substantially reduced when stable β-catenin–expressing CD4+CD25+ Treg cells were used instead of control Treg cells. Expression of stable β-catenin on potentially pathogenic CD4+CD25− T cells rendered these cells anergic, and the β-catenin–mediated induction of anergy occurred even in Foxp3-deficient T cells. Thus, through enhanced survival of existing regulatory T cells, and through induction of unresponsiveness in precursors of T effector cells, β-catenin stabilization has a powerful effect on the prevention of inflammatory disease.

Diesel Exhaust Particle-Exposed Human Bronchial Epithelial Cells Induce Dendritic Cell Maturation

Increased exposure to air pollutants such as diesel exhaust particles (DEP) has been proposed as one mechanism to explain the rise in allergic disorders. However, the immunologic mechanisms by which DEP enhance allergic sensitization and asthma remain unclear. We hypothesized that DEP act as an adjuvant for immature dendritic cell (DC) maturation via its effect on airway epithelial cell-derived microenvironment for DC. Immature monocyte-derived DC (iMDDC) failed to undergo phenotypic (CD80, CD83, CD86) or functional (T cell activation) maturation in response to exposure to DEP (0.001–100 μg/ml). In contrast, primary cultures of human bronchial epithelial cells (HBEC) treated with DEP induced iMDDC phenotypic maturation (2.6 ± 0.1-fold increase in CD83 expression, n = 4, p < 0.05) and functional maturation (2.6 ± 0.2-fold increase in T cell activation, n = 4, p < 0.05). Functional maturation of iMDDC was induced by conditioned medium derived from DEP-treated HBEC, and was inhibited in cultures with DEP-treated HBEC and blocking Abs against GM-CSF, or GM-CSF-targeted small interfering RNA. These data suggest that DEP induce Ag-independent DC maturation via epithelial cell-DC interactions mediated by HBEC-derived GM-CSF. Although additional signals may be required for polarization of DC, these data suggest a novel mechanism by which environmental pollutants alter airway immune responses.

Sequential class switching is required for the generation of high affinity IgE antibodies

Generation of anaphylaxis-inducing high affinity IgE requires sequential class switching.