T-bet Runs INTERFERence.

In this issue of Immunity, Iwata et al. (2017) report that the transcription factor T-bet acts as a selective repressor of the type I interferon (IFN) transcriptional program in response to IFN-γ signaling.

Variation in Microbiome LPS Immunogenicity Contributes to Autoimmunity in Humans.

According to the hygiene hypothesis, the increasing incidence of autoimmune diseases in western countries may be explained by changes in early microbial exposure, leading to altered immune maturation. We followed gut microbiome development from birth until age three in 222 infants in Northern Europe, where early-onset autoimmune diseases are common in Finland and Estonia but are less prevalent in Russia. We found that Bacteroides species are lowly abundant in Russians but dominate in Finnish and Estonian infants. Therefore, their lipopolysaccharide (LPS) exposures arose primarily from Bacteroides rather than from Escherichia coli, which is a potent innate immune activator. We show that Bacteroides LPS is structurally distinct from E. coli LPS and inhibits innate immune signaling and endotoxin tolerance; furthermore, unlike LPS from E. coli, B. dorei LPS does not decrease incidence of autoimmune diabetes in non-obese diabetic mice. Early colonization by immunologically silencing microbiota may thus preclude aspects of immune education.

Marginal donors: can older donor hearts tolerate prolonged cold ischemic storage?

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Both advanced donor age and prolonged ischemic time are significant risk factors for the 1-year mortality. However, its functional consequences have not been fully evaluated in the early-phase after transplantation; even early graft dysfunction is the main determinant of long-term outcome following transplantation. We evaluated in vivo left-ventricular (LV) cardiac and coronary vascular function of old-donor grafts after short and prolonged cold ischemic times in rats 1 h after heart transplantation. METHODS: The hearts were excised from young donor (3-month-old) or old donor (18-month-old) rats, stored in cold preservation solution for either 1 or 8 h, and heterotopically transplanted. RESULTS: After 1 h of ischemic period, in the old-donor group, LV pressure, maximum pressure development (dP/dt max), time constant of LV pressure decay (τ), LV end-diastolic pressure and coronary blood flow did not differ compared with young donors. However, endothelium-dependent vasodilatation to acetylcholine resulted in a significantly lower response of coronary blood flow in the old-donor group (33 ± 4 vs. 51 ± 15 %, p < 0.05). After 8 h preservation, two of the old-donor hearts showed no mechanical activity upon reperfusion. LV pressure (55 ± 6 vs. 72 ± 5 mmHg, p < 0.05), dP/dt max (899 ± 221 vs. 1530 ± 217 mmHg/s, p < 0.05), coronary blood flow and response to acetylcholine were significantly reduced and τ was increased in the old-donor group in comparison to young controls. CONCLUSIONS: During the early-phase after transplantation, the ischemic tolerance of older-donor hearts is reduced after prolonged preservation time and the endothelium is more vulnerable to ischemia/reperfusion.

Histone deacetylase activities are required for innate immune cell control of Th1 but not Th2 effector cell function.

Histone deacetylases (HDACs) play a critical role in regulating gene expression and key biological processes. However, how HDACs are involved in innate immunity is little understood. Here, in this first systematic investigation of the role of HDACs in immunity, we show that HDAC inhibition by a small-molecule HDAC inhibitor (HDACi), LAQ824, alters Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)-dependent activation and function of macrophages and dendritic cells (DCs). Surprisingly, pan-HDAC inhibition modulates only a limited set of genes involved in distinct arms of immune responses. Specifically, it inhibited DC-controlled T helper 1 (Th1) effector but not Th2 effector cell activation and migration. It also inhibited macrophage- and DC-mediated monocyte but not neutrophil chemotaxis. These unexpected findings demonstrate the high specificity of HDAC inhibition in modulating innate and adaptive immune responses, and highlight the potential for HDACi to alter the Th1 and Th2 balance in therapeutic settings.

T helper cell fate specified by kinase-mediated interaction of T-bet with GATA-3.

Cell lineage specification depends on both gene activation and gene silencing, and in the differentiation of T helper progenitors to Th1 or Th2 effector cells, this requires the action of two opposing transcription factors, T-bet and GATA-3. T-bet is essential for the development of Th1 cells, and GATA-3 performs an equivalent role in Th2 development. We report that T-bet represses Th2 lineage commitment through tyrosine kinase-mediated interaction between the two transcription factors that interferes with the binding of GATA-3 to its target DNA. These results provide a novel function for tyrosine phosphorylation of a transcription factor in specifying alternate fates of a common progenitor cell.

Loss of T-bet, but not STAT1, prevents the development of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.

The transcription factors signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)1 and T-bet control the differentiation of interferon (IFN)-gamma-producing T helper type (Th)1 cells. Here we compare the role of T-bet and STAT1 in the initiation and regulation of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a disease initiated by Th1 cells. T-bet-deficient mice immunized with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) were resistant to the development of EAE. This protection was also observed when T-bet(-/-) mice were crossed to the MOG-specific 2D2 T cell receptor transgenic strain. In contrast, although T-bet is downstream of STAT1, STAT1(-/-) mice were highly susceptible to EAE and developed more severe and accelerated disease with atypical neuropathologic features. The function of T-bet was dominant as mice deficient in both T-bet and STAT1 were also protected from EAE. CD4(+) CD25(+) regulatory T cells from these two mice strains were fully competent and do not explain the difference in disease susceptibility. However, enhanced EAE in STAT1(-/-) mice was associated with continued generation of IFN-gamma-producing Th1 cells and up-regulation of selective chemokines responsible for the increased recruitment of macrophages and neutrophils in the central nervous system. Although the two transcription factors, STAT1 and T-bet, both induce IFN-gamma gene transcription, our results demonstrate marked differences in their function in regulating pathogenic Th1 cell responses.

Sustained T-bet expression confers polarized human TH2 cells with TH1-like cytokine production and migratory capacities.

BACKGROUND: The transcription factor T-bet mediates IFN-gamma production by T(H)1 cells and suppresses T(H)2 cytokine production when ectopically expressed in polarized murine T(H)2 cells. Thus T-bet-mediated inhibition of T(H)2 cytokine production might be beneficial for the treatment of allergic diseases like asthma or atopic dermatitis. OBJECTIVE: We sought to investigate the effects of ectopic T-bet expression in highly polarized human T(H)2 cells obtained from skin biopsy specimens of patients with atopic dermatitis. METHODS: The cytokine production of T(H)2 cells retrovirally transfected with a vector expressing human T-bet was determined by means of intracellular FACS staining and ELISA. The effects of T-bet transfection were analyzed at the mRNA level by means of real-time PCR and DNA microarrays and confirmed by using functional chemokine response assays. RESULTS: Transfection of T-bet into T(H)2 cells induced high levels of IFN-gamma and suppressed IL-5, but IL-2 and IL-4 production remained unchanged. T-bet transfection also induced IL-12Rbeta2 and CXCR3 expression on human T(H)2 cells, whereas the IL-18 receptor was only induced as a consequence of T-bet-mediated increased responsiveness to IL-12. Furthermore, sustained T-bet expression in human T(H)2 cells induced IL-2 production and decreased the secretion of IL-4. In addition, the chemokine receptor repertoire of these cells was changed toward a T(H)1-like profile. CONCLUSION: The combined switch in cytokine pattern and migratory potential of highly polarized human T(H)2 cells mediated by T-bet might provide an additional advantage for the treatment of allergic diseases.

Antigen-driven effector CD8 T cell function regulated by T-bet.

Type 1 immunity relies on the differentiation of two major subsets of T lymphocytes, the CD4+ T helper (Th) cell and the CD8+ cytotoxic T cell, that direct inflammatory and cytotoxic responses essential for the destruction of intracellular and extracellular pathogens. In contrast to CD4 cells, little is known about transcription factors that control the transition from the CD8 naïve to effector cell stage. Here, we report that the transcription factor T-bet, known to regulate Th cell differentiation, also controls the generation of the CD8+ cytotoxic effector cell. Antigen-driven generation of effector CD8+ cells was impaired in OT-I T cell receptor transgenic mice lacking T-bet, resulting in diminished cytotoxicity and a marked shift in cytokine secretion profiles. Furthermore, mice lacking T-bet responded poorly to infection with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus. T-bet is a key player in the generation of type 1 immunity, in both Th and T cytotoxic cells.

Molecular mechanisms regulating Th1 immune responses.

The T helper lymphocyte is responsible for orchestrating the appropriate immune response to a wide variety of pathogens. The recognition of the polarized T helper cell subsets Th1 and Th2 has led to an understanding of the role of these cells in coordinating a variety of immune responses, both in responses to pathogens and in autoimmune and allergic disease. Here, we discuss the mechanisms that control lineage commitment to the Th1 phenotype. What has recently emerged is a rich understanding of the cytokines, receptors, signal transduction pathways, and transcription factors involved in Th1 differentiation. Although the picture is still incomplete, the basic pathways leading to Th1 differentiation can now be understood in in vitro and a number of infection and disease models.

T(H) cell differentiation is accompanied by dynamic changes in histone acetylation of cytokine genes.

Naïve T cells differentiate into effector cells upon stimulation with antigen, a process that is accompanied by changes in the chromatin structure of effector cytokine genes. Using histone acetylation to evaluate these changes, we showed that T cell receptor (TCR) stimulation results in early activation of the genes encoding both interleukin 4 and interferon-gamma. We found that continued culture in the presence of polarizing cytokines established a selective pattern of histone acetylation on both cytokine genes; this correlated with restricted access of the transcription factor NFAT1 to these gene regulatory regions as well as mutually exclusive gene expression by the differentiated T cells. Our data point to a biphasic process in which cytokine-driven signaling pathways maintain and reinforce chromatin structural changes initiated by the TCR. This process ensures that cytokine genes remain accessible to the relevant transcription factors and promotes functional cooperation of the inducible transcription factor NFAT with lineage-specific transcription factors such as GATA-3 and T-bet.

T-bet regulates IgG class switching and pathogenic autoantibody production.

A molecular understanding of the regulation of IgG class switching to IL-4-independent isotypes, particularly to IgG2a, remains largely unknown. The T-box transcription factor T-bet directly regulates Th1 lineage commitment by CD4 T cells, but its role in B lymphocytes has been largely unexplored. We show here a role for T-bet in the regulation of IgG class switching, especially to IgG2a. T-bet-deficient B lymphocytes demonstrate impaired production of IgG2a, IgG2b, and IgG3 and, most strikingly, are unable to generate germ-line or postswitch IgG2a transcripts in response to IFN-gamma. Conversely, enforced expression of T-bet initiates IgG2a switching in cell lines and primary cells. This function contributes critically to the pathogenesis of murine lupus, where the absence of T-bet strikingly reduces B cell-dependent manifestations, including autoantibody production, hypergammaglobulinemia, and immune-complex renal disease and, in particular, abrogates IFN-gamma-mediated IgG2a production. Classical T cell manifestations persisted, including lymphadenopathy and cellular infiltrates of skin and liver. These results identify T-bet as a selective transducer of IFN-gamma-mediated IgG2a class switching in B cells and emphasize the importance of this regulation in the pathogenesis of humorally mediated autoimmunity.

T-Bet expression and failure of GATA-3 cross-regulation lead to default production of IFN-gamma by gammadelta T cells.

gammadelta T cells predominantly produce IFN-gamma upon activation. To determine the basis for default production of IFN-gamma by gammadelta T cells, we analyzed the transcription factors T-box expressed in T cells (T-bet) and GATA-3. T-bet, absent in naive cells, was induced upon TCR signaling, with IFN-gamma production. T-bet also regulated IL-4 synthesis, as gammadelta cells isolated from T-bet-deficient mice displayed enhanced IL-4 levels with reduced IFN-gamma production. Notably, T-bet expression after TCR signaling in gammadelta cells was not down-regulated by IL-4, in conjunction with a higher ratio of T-bet:GATA-3 expression than that found in CD4(+) T cells. Indeed, overexpression of GATA-3 failed to inhibit IFN-gamma secretion in gammadelta cells to the degree seen in CD4(+) T cells. These results indicate that T-bet enhances IFN-gamma secretion and suppresses IL-4 secretion in gammadelta cells, and that GATA-3 fails to counterbalance T-bet-mediated IFN-gamma production, accounting for the default synthesis of IFN-gamma by these T lymphocytes.

Development of spontaneous airway changes consistent with human asthma in mice lacking T-bet.

Human asthma is associated with airway infiltration by T helper 2 (TH2) lymphocytes. We observed reduced expression of the TH1 transcription factor, T-bet, in T cells from airways of patients with asthma compared with that in T cells from airways of nonasthmatic patients, suggesting that loss of T-bet might be associated with asthma. Mice with a targeted deletion of the T-bet gene and severe combined immunodeficient mice receiving CD4+ cells from T-bet knockout mice spontaneously demonstrated multiple physiological and inflammatory features characteristic of asthma. Thus, T-bet deficiency, in the absence of allergen exposure, induces a murine phenotype reminiscent of both acute and chronic human asthma.

Distinct effects of T-bet in TH1 lineage commitment and IFN-gamma production in CD4 and CD8 T cells.

T-bet is a member of the T-box family of transcription factors that appears to regulate lineage commitment in CD4 T helper (TH) lymphocytes in part by activating the hallmark TH1 cytokine, interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma). IFN-gamma is also produced by natural killer (NK) cells and most prominently by CD8 cytotoxic T cells, and is vital for the control of microbial pathogens. Although T-bet is expressed in all these cell types, it is required for control of IFN-gamma production in CD4 and NK cells, but not in CD8 cells. This difference is also apparent in the function of these cell subsets. Thus, the regulation of a single cytokine, IFN-gamma, is controlled by distinct transcriptional mechanisms within the T cell lineage.