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Feng Y, van der Veeken J, Shugay M, Putintseva EV, Osmanbeyoglu HU, Dikiy S, Hoyos BE, Moltedo B, Hemmers S, Treuting P, Leslie CS, Chudakov DM, Rudensky AY. A mechanism for expansion of regulatory T-cell repertoire and its role in self-tolerance. Nature 2015; 528:132-136. [PMID: 26605529 PMCID: PMC4862833 DOI: 10.1038/nature16141] [Citation(s) in RCA: 113] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2015] [Accepted: 10/12/2015] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
T-cell receptor (TCR) signalling has a key role in determining T-cell fate. Precursor cells expressing TCRs within a certain low-affinity range for complexes of self-peptide and major histocompatibility complex (MHC) undergo positive selection and differentiate into naive T cells expressing a highly diverse self-MHC-restricted TCR repertoire. In contrast, precursors displaying TCRs with a high affinity for 'self' are either eliminated through TCR-agonist-induced apoptosis (negative selection) or restrained by regulatory T (Treg) cells, whose differentiation and function are controlled by the X-chromosome-encoded transcription factor Foxp3 (reviewed in ref. 2). Foxp3 is expressed in a fraction of self-reactive T cells that escape negative selection in response to agonist-driven TCR signals combined with interleukin 2 (IL-2) receptor signalling. In addition to Treg cells, TCR-agonist-driven selection results in the generation of several other specialized T-cell lineages such as natural killer T cells and innate mucosal-associated invariant T cells. Although the latter exhibit a restricted TCR repertoire, Treg cells display a highly diverse collection of TCRs. Here we explore in mice whether a specialized mechanism enables agonist-driven selection of Treg cells with a diverse TCR repertoire, and the importance this holds for self-tolerance. We show that the intronic Foxp3 enhancer conserved noncoding sequence 3 (CNS3) acts as an epigenetic switch that confers a poised state to the Foxp3 promoter in precursor cells to make Treg cell lineage commitment responsive to a broad range of TCR stimuli, particularly to suboptimal ones. CNS3-dependent expansion of the TCR repertoire enables Treg cells to control self-reactive T cells effectively, especially when thymic negative selection is genetically impaired. Our findings highlight the complementary roles of these two main mechanisms of self-tolerance.
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MESH Headings
- Animals
- Cell Differentiation
- Cell Lineage
- Conserved Sequence/genetics
- Enhancer Elements, Genetic/genetics
- Epigenesis, Genetic
- Female
- Forkhead Transcription Factors/genetics
- Introns/genetics
- Male
- Mice
- Promoter Regions, Genetic/genetics
- Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell/genetics
- Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell/metabolism
- Receptors, Interleukin-2/immunology
- Receptors, Interleukin-2/metabolism
- Self Tolerance/immunology
- Signal Transduction
- T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory/cytology
- T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory/immunology
- T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory/metabolism
- Transcription Factors/deficiency
- AIRE Protein
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Affiliation(s)
- Yongqiang Feng
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Immunology Program, Ludwig Center at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Joris van der Veeken
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Immunology Program, Ludwig Center at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Mikhail Shugay
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry RAS, 117997, Miklukho-Maklaya 16/10, Moscow, Russia
- Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, 117997, Ostrovityanova 1, Moscow, Russia
| | - Ekaterina V Putintseva
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry RAS, 117997, Miklukho-Maklaya 16/10, Moscow, Russia
| | - Hatice U Osmanbeyoglu
- Computational Biology Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York 10065, USA
| | - Stanislav Dikiy
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Immunology Program, Ludwig Center at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Beatrice E Hoyos
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Immunology Program, Ludwig Center at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Bruno Moltedo
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Immunology Program, Ludwig Center at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Saskia Hemmers
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Immunology Program, Ludwig Center at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Piper Treuting
- Department of Comparative Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA
| | - Christina S Leslie
- Computational Biology Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York 10065, USA
| | - Dmitriy M Chudakov
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry RAS, 117997, Miklukho-Maklaya 16/10, Moscow, Russia
- Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, 117997, Ostrovityanova 1, Moscow, Russia
| | - Alexander Y Rudensky
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Immunology Program, Ludwig Center at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10065, USA
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