Translational Biology and Molecular Medicine Graduate Program, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
Department of Pathology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA.
Sci Rep. 2023 Oct 30;13(1):18653. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-45738-4.
Conventional immunosuppressive functions of CD4Foxp3 regulatory T cells (Tregs) in type 1 diabetes (T1D) pathogenesis have been well described, but whether Tregs have additional non-immunological functions supporting tissue homeostasis in pancreatic islets is unknown. Within the last decade novel tissue repair functions have been ascribed to Tregs. One function is production of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) ligand, amphiregulin, which promotes tissue repair in response to inflammatory or mechanical tissue injury. However, whether such pathways are engaged during autoimmune diabetes and promote tissue repair is undetermined. Previously, we observed that upregulation of amphiregulin at the transcriptional level was associated with functional Treg populations in the non-obese diabetic (NOD) mouse model of T1D. From this we postulated that amphiregulin promoted islet tissue repair and slowed the progression of diabetes in NOD mice. Here, we report that islet-infiltrating Tregs have increased capacity to produce amphiregulin, and that both Tregs and beta cells express EGFR. Moreover, we show that amphiregulin can directly modulate mediators of endoplasmic reticulum stress in beta cells. Despite this, NOD amphiregulin deficient mice showed no acceleration of spontaneous autoimmune diabetes. Taken together, the data suggest that the ability for amphiregulin to affect the progression of autoimmune diabetes is limited.
传统的 CD4Foxp3+调节性 T 细胞(Tregs)在 1 型糖尿病(T1D)发病机制中的免疫抑制功能已得到充分描述,但 Tregs 是否具有支持胰岛组织稳态的额外非免疫功能尚不清楚。在过去的十年中,Tregs 被赋予了新的组织修复功能。其中一个功能是产生表皮生长因子受体(EGFR)配体,即 Amphiregulin,它可以促进组织修复,以应对炎症或机械性组织损伤。然而,在自身免疫性糖尿病中,这些途径是否被激活并促进组织修复尚不确定。之前,我们观察到在非肥胖型糖尿病(NOD)小鼠的 T1D 模型中,转录水平上 Amphiregulin 的上调与功能性 Treg 群体有关。由此我们推测 Amphiregulin 促进胰岛组织修复,并减缓 NOD 小鼠糖尿病的进展。在这里,我们报告说胰岛浸润的 Tregs 产生 Amphiregulin 的能力增加,并且 Tregs 和β细胞都表达 EGFR。此外,我们还表明 Amphiregulin 可以直接调节β细胞内质网应激的介质。尽管如此,NOD Amphiregulin 缺陷小鼠的自发性自身免疫性糖尿病并没有加速。总之,这些数据表明 Amphiregulin 影响自身免疫性糖尿病进展的能力是有限的。
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