CD27 Promotes CD4+ Effector T Cell Survival in Response to Tissue Self-Antigen.

Signaling through CD27 plays a role in T cell activation and memory. However, it is currently unknown how this costimulatory receptor influences CD4+ effector T (Teff) cells in inflamed tissues. In the current study, we used a murine model of inducible self-antigen expression in the epidermis to elucidate the functional role of CD27 on autoreactive Teff cells. Expression of CD27 on Ag-specific Teff cells resulted in enhanced skin inflammation when compared with CD27-deficient Teff cells. CD27 signaling promoted the accumulation of IFN-γ and IL-2-producing T cells in skin draining lymph nodes in a cell-intrinsic fashion. Surprisingly, this costimulatory pathway had minimal effect on early T cell activation and proliferation. Instead, signaling through CD27 resulted in the progressive survival of Teff cells during the autoimmune response. Using BH3 profiling to assess mitochondrial cell priming, we found that CD27-deficient cells were equally as sensitive as CD27-sufficient cells to mitochondrial outer membrane polarization upon exposure to either BH3 activator or sensitizer peptides. In contrast, CD27-deficient Teff cells expressed higher levels of active caspase 8. Taken together, these results suggest that CD27 does not promote Teff cell survival by increasing expression of antiapoptotic BCL2 family members but instead acts by preferentially suppressing the cell-extrinsic apoptosis pathway, highlighting a previously unidentified role for CD27 in augmenting autoreactive Teff cell responses.

The TNFRSF members CD27 and OX40 coordinately limit TH17 differentiation in regulatory T cells.

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are closely related to TH17 cells and use aspects of the TH17-differentiation program for optimal immune regulation. In several chronic inflammatory human diseases, Tregs express IL-17A, suggesting that dysregulation of TH17-associated pathways in Tregs may result in either loss of suppressive function and/or conversion into pathogenic cells. The pathways that regulate the TH17 program in Tregs are poorly understood. We have identified two TNF receptor superfamily (TNFRSF) members, CD27 and OX40, that are preferentially expressed by skin-resident Tregs Both CD27 and OX40 signaling suppressed the expression of TH17-associated genes from Tregs in a cell-intrinsic manner in vitro and in vivo. However, only OX40 played a nonredundant role in promoting Treg accumulation. Tregs that lacked both CD27 and OX40 were defective in controlling skin inflammation and expressed high levels of IL-17A, as well as the master TH17 transcription factor, RORγt. Last, we found that CD27 expression was inversely correlated with Treg IL-17 production in skin of patients with psoriasis and hidradenitis suppurativa. Together, our results suggest that TNFRSF members play both redundant and distinct roles in regulating Treg plasticity in tissues.

Integrin Activation Controls Regulatory T Cell-Mediated Peripheral Tolerance.

Maintenance of the regulatory T (Treg) cell pool is essential for peripheral tolerance and prevention of autoimmunity. Integrins, heterodimeric transmembrane proteins consisting of α and ß subunits that mediate cell-to-cell and cell-to-extracellular matrix interactions, play an important role in facilitating Treg cell contact-mediated suppression. In this article, we show that integrin activation plays an essential, previously unappreciated role in maintaining murine Treg cell function. Treg cell-specific loss of talin, a ß integrin-binding protein, or expression of talin(L325R), a mutant that selectively abrogates integrin activation, resulted in lethal systemic autoimmunity. This dysfunction could be attributed, in part, to a global dysregulation of the Treg cell transcriptome. Activation of integrin α4ß1 led to increased suppressive capacity of the Treg cell pool, suggesting that modulating integrin activation on Treg cells may be a useful therapeutic strategy for autoimmune and inflammatory disorders. Taken together, these results reveal a critical role for integrin-mediated signals in controlling peripheral tolerance by virtue of maintaining Treg cell function.

Talin Plays a Critical Role in the Maintenance of the Regulatory T Cell Pool.

Talin, a cytoskeletal protein essential in mediating integrin activation, has been previously shown to be involved in the regulation of T cell proliferation and function. In this study, we describe a role for talin in maintaining the homeostasis and survival of the regulatory T (Treg) cell pool. T cell-specific deletion of talin in Tln1fl/flCd4Cre mice resulted in spontaneous lymphocyte activation, primarily due to numerical and functional deficiencies of Treg cells in the periphery. Peripheral talin-deficient Treg cells were unable to maintain high expression of IL-2Rα, resulting in impaired IL-2 signaling and ultimately leading to increased apoptosis through downregulation of prosurvival proteins Bcl-2 and Mcl-1. The requirement for talin in maintaining high IL-2Rα expression by Treg cells was due, in part, to integrin LFA-1-mediated interactions between Treg cells and dendritic cells. Collectively, our data suggest a critical role for talin in Treg cell-mediated maintenance of immune homeostasis.

Mechanisms of human autoimmunity.

Autoimmune reactions reflect an imbalance between effector and regulatory immune responses, typically develop through stages of initiation and propagation, and often show phases of resolution (indicated by clinical remissions) and exacerbations (indicated by symptomatic flares). The fundamental underlying mechanism of autoimmunity is defective elimination and/or control of self-reactive lymphocytes. Studies in humans and experimental animal models are revealing the genetic and environmental factors that contribute to autoimmunity. A major goal of research in this area is to exploit this knowledge to better understand the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases and to develop strategies for reestablishing the normal balance between effector and regulatory immune responses.

Regulation of asymmetric division and CD8+ T lymphocyte fate specification by protein kinase Cζ and protein kinase Cλ/ι.

During an immune response against a microbial pathogen, activated naive T lymphocytes give rise to effector cells that provide acute host defense and memory cells that provide long-lived immunity. It has been shown that T lymphocytes can undergo asymmetric division, enabling the daughter cells to inherit unequal amounts of fate-determining proteins and thereby acquire distinct fates from their inception. In this study, we show that the absence of the atypical protein kinase C (PKC) isoforms, PKCζ and PKCλ/ι, disrupts asymmetric CD8(+) T lymphocyte division. These alterations were associated with aberrant acquisition of a pre-effector transcriptional program, detected by single-cell gene expression analyses, in lymphocytes that had undergone their first division in vivo and enhanced differentiation toward effector fates at the expense of memory fates. Together, these results demonstrate a role for atypical PKC in regulating asymmetric division and the specification of divergent CD8(+) T lymphocyte fates early during an immune response.

A microRNA upregulated in asthma airway T cells promotes TH2 cytokine production.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) exert powerful effects on immunological function by tuning networks of target genes that orchestrate cell activity. We sought to identify miRNAs and miRNA-regulated pathways that control the type 2 helper T cell (TH2 cell) responses that drive pathogenic inflammation in asthma. Profiling miRNA expression in human airway-infiltrating T cells revealed elevated expression of the miRNA miR-19a in asthma. Modulating miR-19 activity altered TH2 cytokine production in both human and mouse T cells, and TH2 cell responses were markedly impaired in cells lacking the entire miR-17∼92 cluster. miR-19 promoted TH2 cytokine production and amplified inflammatory signaling by direct targeting of the inositol phosphatase PTEN, the signaling inhibitor SOCS1 and the deubiquitinase A20. Thus, upregulation of miR-19a in asthma may be an indicator and a cause of increased TH2 cytokine production in the airways.