ABSTRACT
Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-2 (TREM2) is a cell surface receptor on macrophages and microglia that senses and responds to disease-associated signals to regulate the phenotype of these innate immune cells. The TREM2 signaling pathway has been implicated in a variety of diseases ranging from neurodegeneration in the central nervous system to metabolic disease in the periphery. Here, we report that TREM2 is a thyroid hormone-regulated gene and its expression in macrophages and microglia is stimulated by thyroid hormone and synthetic thyroid hormone agonists (thyromimetics). Our findings report the endocrine regulation of TREM2 by thyroid hormone, and provide a unique opportunity to drug the TREM2 signaling pathway with orally active small-molecule therapeutic agents.
Subject(s)
Acetates/pharmacology , Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental/drug therapy , Membrane Glycoproteins/genetics , Microglia/drug effects , Phenols/pharmacology , Receptors, Immunologic/genetics , Retinoid X Receptors/genetics , Thyroid Hormones/pharmacology , Acetates/chemical synthesis , Animals , Binding Sites , Brain/drug effects , Brain/immunology , Brain/pathology , Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental/genetics , Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental/immunology , Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental/pathology , Gene Expression Regulation , Humans , Immunity, Innate , Macrophages/drug effects , Macrophages/immunology , Macrophages/pathology , Membrane Glycoproteins/antagonists & inhibitors , Membrane Glycoproteins/immunology , Mice , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Microglia/immunology , Microglia/pathology , Models, Molecular , Phenols/chemical synthesis , Phenoxyacetates/pharmacology , Promoter Regions, Genetic , Protein Binding , Protein Conformation, alpha-Helical , Protein Conformation, beta-Strand , Protein Interaction Domains and Motifs , RNA, Messenger/antagonists & inhibitors , RNA, Messenger/genetics , RNA, Messenger/immunology , Receptors, Immunologic/antagonists & inhibitors , Receptors, Immunologic/immunology , Response Elements , Retinoid X Receptors/chemistry , Retinoid X Receptors/metabolism , Signal TransductionABSTRACT
Most multiple sclerosis (MS) patients given currently available disease-modifying drugs (DMDs) experience progressive disability. Accordingly, there is a need for new treatments that can limit the generation of new waves T cell autoreactivity that drive disease progression. Notably, immune cells express GABAA-receptors (GABAA-Rs) whose activation has anti-inflammatory effects such that GABA administration can ameliorate disease in models of type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and COVID-19. Here, we show that oral GABA, which cannot cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB), does not affect the course of murine experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). In contrast, oral administration of the BBB-permeable GABAA-R-specific agonist homotaurine ameliorates monophasic EAE, as well as advanced-stage relapsing-remitting EAE (RR-EAE). Homotaurine treatment beginning after the first peak of paralysis reduced the spreading of Th17 and Th1 responses from the priming immunogen to a new myelin T cell epitope within the CNS. Antigen-presenting cells (APC) isolated from homotaurine-treated mice displayed an attenuated ability to promote autoantigen-specific T cell proliferation. The ability of homotaurine treatment to limit epitope spreading within the CNS, along with its safety record, makes it an excellent candidate to help treat MS and other inflammatory disorders of the CNS.