Three distinct developmental pathways for adaptive and two IFN-γ-producing γδ T subsets in adult thymus.

Murine γδ T cells include subsets that are programmed for distinct effector functions during their development in the thymus. Under pathological conditions, different γδ T cell subsets can be protective or can exacerbate a disease. Here we show that CD117, CD200 and CD371, together with other markers, identify seven developmental stages of γδ T cells. These seven stages can be divided into three distinct developmental pathways that are enriched for different TCRδ repertoires and exhibit characteristic expression patterns associated with adaptive (γδTn), IFN-γ-producing (γδT1) and IFN-γ/IL-4-co-producing γδ T cells (γδNKT). Developmental progression towards both IFN-γ-producing subsets can be induced by TCR signalling, and each pathway results in thymic emigration at a different stage. Finally, we show that γδT1 cells are the predominating IFN-γ-producing subset developing in the adult thymus. Thus, this study maps out three distinct development pathways that result in the programming of γδTn, γδT1 and γδNKT cells.

Rpl22 Loss Selectively Impairs αß T Cell Development by Dysregulating Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Signaling.

Although ribosomal proteins (RP) are thought to primarily facilitate biogenesis of the ribosome and its ability to synthesize protein, emerging evidence suggests that individual RP can perform critical regulatory functions that control developmental processes. We showed previously that despite the ubiquitous expression of the RP ribosomal protein L22 (Rpl22), germline ablation of Rpl22 in mice causes a selective, p53-dependent block in the development of αß, but not γδ, T cell progenitors. Nevertheless, the basis by which Rpl22 loss selectively induces p53 in αß T cell progenitors remained unclear. We show in this study that Rpl22 regulates the development of αß T cells by restraining endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress responses. In the absence of Rpl22, ER stress is exacerbated in αß, but not γδ, T cell progenitors. The exacerbated ER stress in Rpl22-deficient αß T lineage progenitors is responsible for selective induction of p53 and their arrest, as pharmacological induction of stress is sufficient to induce p53 and replicate the selective block of αß T cells, and attenuation of ER stress signaling by knockdown of protein kinase R-like ER kinase, an ER stress sensor, blunts p53 induction and rescues development of Rpl22-deficient αß T cell progenitors. Rpl22 deficiency appears to exacerbate ER stress by interfering with the ability of ER stress signals to block new protein synthesis. Our finding that Rpl22 deficiency exacerbates ER stress responses and induces p53 in αß T cell progenitors provides insight into how a ubiquitously expressed RP can perform regulatory functions that are selectively required by some cell lineages but not others.

Development of interleukin-17-producing Vγ2+ γδ T cells is reduced by ICOS signaling in the thymus.

Co-stimulation is an integral part of T cell signaling involved in almost all facets of T cell biology. While much is known about co-stimulation in differentiation and function of conventional αß T cells, less is known about how co-stimulation affects the development and programming of γδ T cells. In this study, we have investigated the role of inducible T cell co-stimulator (ICOS) on the development of γδ T cells. We show that ICOS is expressed by a population of immature Vγ2+CD45RBlow γδ T cells predisposed to interleukin-17 (IL-17) production. We found that treatment with ICOS specific antibodies drastically reduces fetal development of IL-17-producing γδ T cells by agonistic actions, and that ICOS deficient mice have a significant increase in the population of IL-17-producing Vγ2+ γδ T cells in the thymus, spleen, lymph nodes and skin and exhibit exacerbated sensitization responses to 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that development of IL-17-producing Vγ2+ γδ T cells is reduced by ICOS signaling in the thymus.

The TCR ligand-inducible expression of CD73 marks γδ lineage commitment and a metastable intermediate in effector specification.

Numerous studies indicate that γδ T cell receptor (γδTCR) expression alone does not reliably mark commitment of early thymic progenitors to the γδ fate. This raises the possibility that the γδTCR is unable to intrinsically specify fate and instead requires additional environmental factors, including TCR-ligand engagement. We use single cell progenitor assays to reveal that ligand acts instructionally to direct adoption of the γδ fate. Moreover, we identify CD73 as a TCR ligand-induced cell surface protein that distinguishes γδTCR-expressing CD4(-)CD8(-) progenitors that have committed to the γδ fate from those that have not yet done so. Indeed, unlike CD73(-) γδTCR(+) progenitors, which largely adopt the αß fate upon separation from the intrathymic selecting environment, those that express CD73 remain CD4(-)CD8(-) and committed to the γδ fate. CD73 is expressed by >90% of peripheral γδ cells, suggesting this is a common occurrence during development. Moreover, CD73 induction appears to mark a metastable intermediate stage before acquisition of effector function, suggesting that γδ lineage and effector fate are specified sequentially. These findings have important implications for the role of ligand in γδ lineage commitment and its relationship to the specification of effector fate.

PKC-θ exists in an oxidized inactive form in naive human T cells.

PKC-θ plays a central role in TCR-induced IL-2 production and T-cell proliferation. The aim of the present study was to analyse how PKC-θ is regulated in human T cells during T-cell activation and differentiation. We show that PKC-θ is found in a high-molecular disulfide-linked complex in naïve T cells, and that PKC-θ most likely is inactive in this form. In parallel with the accumulation of the major redox regulators, glutathione and thioredoxin, PKC-θ is gradually reduced to the 82 kDa active form during T-cell activation. We demonstrate that PKC-θ is recruited to the plasma membrane in the disulfide-linked form in naïve T cells, and that activation of PKC-θ is redox dependent and requires de novo synthesis of glutathione. This is the first study that shows that the activity of PKC-θ is regulated by the intracellular redox state, and that PKC-θ is recruited to the plasma membrane in an inactive form in naïve T cells. Our observations underscore the existence of major differences in TCR signaling in naïve versus primed T cells.

Marked induction of the helix-loop-helix protein Id3 promotes the gammadelta T cell fate and renders their functional maturation Notch independent.

alphabeta and gammadelta T cells arise from a common thymocyte progenitor during development in the thymus. Emerging evidence suggests that the pre-T cell receptor (pre-TCR) and gammadelta T cell receptor (gammadeltaTCR) play instructional roles in specifying the alphabeta and gammadelta T-lineage fates, respectively. Nevertheless, the signaling pathways differentially engaged to specify fate and promote the development of these lineages remain poorly understood. Here, we show that differential activation of the extracellular signal-related kinase (ERK)-early growth response gene (Egr)-inhibitor of DNA binding 3 (Id3) pathway plays a defining role in this process. In particular, Id3 expression served to regulate adoption of the gammadelta fate. Moreover, Id3 was both necessary and sufficient to enable gammadelta-lineage cells to differentiate independently of Notch signaling and become competent IFNgamma-producing effectors. Taken together, these findings identify Id3 as a central player that controls both adoption of the gammadelta fate and its maturation in the thymus.

Egr2 is required for Bcl-2 induction during positive selection.

The repertoire of TCR specificities is established by a selection process in the thymus, during which precursor survival and maturation is dictated by the nature of the TCR signals. The differences in signals that determine whether precursors will survive and mature or be induced to die remain poorly understood. Among the molecular effectors involved in executing the differentiation process initiated by TCR-ligand interactions is a family of Zn-finger transcription factors termed early growth response genes (Egr). Indeed, ablation of the Egr1 gene impairs ligand-induced maturation (positive selection) but not ligand-induced deletion (negative selection). The partial impairment of positive selection by Egr1 deficiency is not enhanced by simultaneous deletion of another Egr family member, Egr3. Accordingly, we asked whether this results from compensation by another family member, Egr2. In this manuscript, we demonstrate that deletion of Egr2 impairs positive selection of both CD4 and CD8 single-positive thymocytes. Interestingly, many of the genes involved in positive selection and T cell differentiation are up-regulated normally in the Egr2-deficient thymocytes. However, Bcl-2 up-regulation is not sustained during late stages of positive selection. This defect is at least partially responsible for the developmental blockade in Egr2-deficient thymocytes, as enforced expression of Bcl-2 rescues T cell development in Egr2(-/-) thymocytes. Taken together, these data suggest that Egr2 plays a central role in the up-regulation of the survival molecule Bcl-2 during positive selection.

Ablation of ribosomal protein L22 selectively impairs alphabeta T cell development by activation of a p53-dependent checkpoint.

The alphabeta and gammadelta T lineages are thought to arise from a common precursor; however, the regulation of separation and development of these lineages is not fully understood. We report here that development of alphabeta and gammadelta precursors was differentially affected by elimination of ribosomal protein L22 (Rpl22), which is ubiquitously expressed but not essential for translation. Rpl22 deficiency selectively arrested development of alphabeta-lineage T cells at the beta-selection checkpoint by inducing their death. The death was caused by induction of p53 expression, because p53 deficiency blocked death and restored development of Rpl22-deficient thymocytes. Importantly, Rpl22 deficiency led to selective upregulation of p53 in alphabeta-lineage thymocytes, at least in part by increasing p53 synthesis. Taken together, these data indicate that Rpl22 deficiency activated a p53-dependent checkpoint that produced a remarkably selective block in alphabeta T cell development but spared gammadelta-lineage cells, suggesting that some ribosomal proteins may perform cell-type-specific or stage-specific functions.