McKay Fiona C, Swain Louisa I, Schibeci Stephen D, Rubio Justin P, Kilpatrick Trevor J, Heard Robert N, Stewart Graeme J, Booth David R
Department of Immunology, Westmead Millennium Institute, University of Sydney, Darcy Road, Westmead 2145, Australia.
J Autoimmun. 2008 Aug;31(1):52-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jaut.2008.02.003. Epub 2008 Apr 11.
Aberrant regulatory T cell populations, characterised by a wide array of CD markers, have been identified in many autoimmune diseases. CD127 has recently been identified as a specific marker for the CD4(+)CD25(Hi) (Tregs) subset. CD127 is the first non-HLA gene to have its association with multiple sclerosis widely replicated. We demonstrate that the regulatory or suppressor T cells CD4(+)CD25(Hi) (Tregs), CD8(+)CD28(-), and CD3(+)CD56(+) (NKT) all produce low levels of CD127, and so could be at a disadvantage in survival and/or proliferation where IL7 is limiting. The remissions seen in relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) could be driven by regulatory T cells, and the absence of remissions seen in primary progressive MS (PPMS) may point to a particularly reduced function of this cell subset. We found that the proportions of CD4(+)FoxP3(+)CD25(Hi) regulatory T cells were not aberrant in PPMS. There was, however, a trend towards reduced FoxP3 expression per cell in this fraction (p<0.083), which has been highly correlated with suppressor function. Notably, we found that the target of regulatory T cells, the CD4(+)CD25(-) cells, was in excess (p<0.009); and in PPMS a protective CD127 haplotype is correlated with higher CD127 expression (p<0.01). These data support further investigations into the regulatory T cell immunophenotype in MS.
在许多自身免疫性疾病中已发现具有多种CD标志物特征的异常调节性T细胞群体。CD127最近被确定为CD4(+)CD25(Hi)(调节性T细胞)亚群的特异性标志物。CD127是首个其与多发性硬化症的关联被广泛重复验证的非HLA基因。我们证明调节性或抑制性T细胞CD4(+)CD25(Hi)(调节性T细胞)、CD8(+)CD28(-)和CD3(+)CD56(+)(自然杀伤T细胞)均产生低水平的CD127,因此在IL7受限的情况下,它们在存活和/或增殖方面可能处于劣势。复发缓解型多发性硬化症(RRMS)中出现的缓解可能由调节性T细胞驱动,而原发进展型多发性硬化症(PPMS)中未出现缓解可能表明该细胞亚群的功能特别降低。我们发现PPMS中CD4(+)FoxP3(+)CD25(Hi)调节性T细胞的比例并无异常。然而,该部分中每个细胞的FoxP3表达有降低趋势(p<0.083),而FoxP3表达与抑制功能高度相关。值得注意的是,我们发现调节性T细胞的靶标CD4(+)CD25(-)细胞数量过多(p<0.009);并且在PPMS中,一种保护性CD127单倍型与较高的CD127表达相关(p<0.01)。这些数据支持对MS中调节性T细胞免疫表型进行进一步研究。