Voß Leonie Caroline, Schmidt Constantin, Harberts Aenne, Spohn Michael, Bradtke Peter, Borchers Alina, Fertig Stefanie, Schmid Joanna, Koch-Nolte Friedrich, Krebs Christian F, Raczkowski Friederike, Mittrücker Hans-Willi
Department for Immunology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
I. Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Front Immunol. 2025 Jul 14;16:1604888. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1604888. eCollection 2025.
FoxP3 regulatory T (Treg) cells restrict excessive immune responses and immunopathology as well as reactivity to self or environmental antigens and thus are crucial for peripheral immune tolerance. The transcription factor Interferon Regulatory Factor 4 (IRF4) controls differentiation and function of T cells. In Treg cells, IRF4 is required for peripheral activation and maturation to effector Treg (eTreg) cells with enhanced suppressive function. However, the mechanisms of Treg cell regulation by IRF4 are not fully understood. Here, we analyze the role of IRF4 in differentiation and maintenance of Treg cells using IRF4-deficient mice and a T cell transfer model, that allows inactivation in peripheral T cells. We demonstrate that loss of one allele already results in impaired eTreg cell differentiation and decreased Treg cell homeostasis, indicating that IRF4 controls peripheral Treg cell differentiation in a gene dosage dependent mode. Peripheral inactivation was also associated with enhanced production of inflammatory but also inhibitory cytokines by Treg cells. ATAC sequencing of Treg cells after mutation of one or both alleles revealed regions with altered accessibility in genes involved in Treg cell function. In the gene, inactivation resulted in reduced ATAC signals in the promoter region and in the conserved non-coding sequence (CNS) 2, required for stability of expression in peripheral Treg cells in response to TCR stimulation. IRF4-deficient Treg cells also displayed a reduction in open chromatin in several Treg cell specific super enhancers, mainly located in proximity to potential IRF4 binding sites. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that IRF4 controls peripheral Treg cell differentiation and homeostasis in a gene dosage dependent manner.
叉头框蛋白P3调节性T(Treg)细胞可限制过度的免疫反应和免疫病理学,以及对自身或环境抗原的反应性,因此对于外周免疫耐受至关重要。转录因子干扰素调节因子4(IRF4)控制T细胞的分化和功能。在Treg细胞中,IRF4是外周激活和成熟为具有增强抑制功能的效应性Treg(eTreg)细胞所必需的。然而,IRF4对Treg细胞的调节机制尚未完全了解。在此,我们使用IRF4缺陷小鼠和T细胞转移模型分析IRF4在Treg细胞分化和维持中的作用,该模型允许在外周T细胞中失活。我们证明,一个等位基因的缺失已经导致eTreg细胞分化受损和Treg细胞稳态降低,表明IRF4以基因剂量依赖模式控制外周Treg细胞分化。外周失活还与Treg细胞产生炎性细胞因子和抑制性细胞因子增加有关。对一个或两个等位基因突变后的Treg细胞进行ATAC测序,揭示了参与Treg细胞功能的基因中可及性改变的区域。在该基因中,失活导致启动子区域和保守非编码序列(CNS)2中的ATAC信号减少,CNS2是外周Treg细胞中TCR刺激后表达稳定性所必需的。IRF4缺陷型Treg细胞在几个主要位于潜在IRF4结合位点附近的Treg细胞特异性超级增强子中的开放染色质也减少。总之,我们的结果表明,IRF4以基因剂量依赖方式控制外周Treg细胞的分化和稳态。
Science. 2023-5-5
Immunity. 2023-2-14
BMB Rep. 2022-8
Cancers (Basel). 2022-2-17