Department of Pathology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL.
Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL; and.
J Immunol. 2021 Oct 15;207(8):2027-2038. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.2100175. Epub 2021 Sep 13.
RORγt is the master transcription factor for the Th17 cells. Paradoxically, in the intestine, RORγt is coexpressed in peripherally induced regulatory T cells (pTregs) together with Foxp3, the master transcription factor for Tregs. Unexpectedly, by an unknown mechanism, colonic RORγt Tregs show an enhanced suppressor function and prevent intestinal inflammation more efficiently than RORγt-nonexpressing pTregs. Although studies have elucidated the function of RORγt in Th17 cells, how RORγt regulates pTreg function is not understood. In our attempt to understand the role of RORγt in controlling Treg function, we discovered a RORγt-driven pathway that modulates the regulatory (suppressor) function of colonic Tregs. We found that RORγt plays an essential role in maintaining Foxp3 expression. RORγt-deficient Tregs failed to sustain Foxp3 expression with concomitant upregulation of T-bet and IFN-γ expressions. During colitis induced by adoptive transfer of CD45RB cells in mice, RORγt-deficient colonic Tregs transitioned to a Th1-like effector phenotype and lost their suppressor function, leading to severe colitis with significant mortality. Accordingly, Foxp3-expressing, RORγt-deficient Tregs showed impaired therapeutic efficacy in ameliorating colitis that is not due to their reduced survival. Moreover, using the Treg-specific RORγt and T-bet double-deficient gene knockout mouse, we demonstrate that deletion of T-bet from RORγt-deficient Tregs restored Foxp3 expression and suppression function as well as prevented onset of severe colitis. Mechanistically, our study suggests that RORγt-mediated repression of T-bet is critical to regulating the immunosuppressive function of colonic Tregs during the inflammatory condition.
RORγt 是 Th17 细胞的主转录因子。矛盾的是,在肠道中,RORγt 与 Foxp3(Treg 的主转录因子)一起在外周诱导的调节性 T 细胞(pTreg)中共同表达。出人意料的是,通过一种未知的机制,结肠中的 RORγt Treg 表现出增强的抑制功能,并比不表达 RORγt 的 pTreg 更有效地预防肠道炎症。尽管研究已经阐明了 RORγt 在 Th17 细胞中的功能,但 RORγt 如何调节 pTreg 功能尚不清楚。在我们试图了解 RORγt 在控制 Treg 功能中的作用时,我们发现了一条由 RORγt 驱动的途径,该途径调节结肠 Treg 的调节(抑制)功能。我们发现 RORγt 在维持 Foxp3 表达中起着至关重要的作用。缺乏 RORγt 的 Treg 无法维持 Foxp3 的表达,同时伴随着 T-bet 和 IFN-γ 的表达上调。在 小鼠中通过过继转移 CD45RB 细胞诱导结肠炎期间,缺乏 RORγt 的结肠 Treg 向 Th1 样效应表型转变,并失去其抑制功能,导致严重的结肠炎和显著的死亡率。因此,表达 Foxp3、缺乏 RORγt 的 Treg 在改善结肠炎方面的疗效受损,这不是由于它们的存活率降低所致。此外,我们使用 Treg 特异性 RORγt 和 T-bet 双缺失基因敲除小鼠证明,从缺乏 RORγt 的 Treg 中删除 T-bet 可恢复 Foxp3 的表达和抑制功能,并预防严重结肠炎的发生。从机制上讲,我们的研究表明,在炎症条件下,RORγt 介导的对 T-bet 的抑制对于调节结肠 Treg 的免疫抑制功能至关重要。
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