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Selective Treg reconstitution during lymphopenia normalizes DC costimulation and prevents graft-versus-host disease
Holly A. Bolton, … , Elena Shklovskaya, Barbara Fazekas de St. Groth
Holly A. Bolton, … , Elena Shklovskaya, Barbara Fazekas de St. Groth
Published August 24, 2015
Citation Information: J Clin Invest. 2015;125(9):3627-3641. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI76031.
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Research Article Immunology

Selective Treg reconstitution during lymphopenia normalizes DC costimulation and prevents graft-versus-host disease

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Abstract

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) have been shown to enhance immune reconstitution and prevent graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation; however, it is unclear how Tregs mediate these effects. Here, we developed a model to examine the mechanism of Treg-dependent regulation of immune reconstitution. Lymphopenic mice were selectively reconstituted with Tregs prior to transfer of conventional CD4+ T cells. Full Treg reconstitution prevented the rapid oligoclonal proliferation that gives rise to pathogenic CD4 effector T cells, while preserving the slow homeostatic form of lymphopenia-induced peripheral expansion that repopulates a diverse peripheral T cell pool. Treg-mediated CTLA-4–dependent downregulation of CD80/CD86 on DCs was critical for inhibition of rapid proliferation and was a function of the Treg/DC ratio achieved by reconstitution. In an allogeneic BM transplant model, selective Treg reconstitution before T cell transfer also normalized DC costimulation and provided complete protection against GVHD. In contrast, cotransfer of Tregs was not protective. Our results indicate that achieving optimal recovery from lymphopenia should aim to improve early Treg reconstitution in order to increase the relative number of Tregs to DCs and thereby inhibit spontaneous oligoclonal T cell proliferation.

Authors

Holly A. Bolton, Erhua Zhu, Alexandra M. Terry, Thomas V. Guy, Woon-Puay Koh, Sioh-Yang Tan, Carl A. Power, Patrick Bertolino, Katharina Lahl, Tim Sparwasser, Elena Shklovskaya, Barbara Fazekas de St. Groth

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Figure 7

Effect of conventional T cell reconstitution on DC expression of CD80/CD86 and fast-phase LIP.

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Effect of conventional T cell reconstitution on DC expression of CD80/CD...
(A) Rag–/– mice were reconstituted with 2.5 × 106 Tregs or naive conventional T cells at a dose of 1.25 × 106 or 2.5 × 106 (n = 4 per group). Naive conventional T cells were flow sorted as CD3+CD4+CD25–CD38–CD44–. Expression of CD80 (left panel) and CD86 (right panel) by migratory DCs in pLN is shown. Data are representative of 2 independent experiments. (B) 1 × 106 CFSE-labeled polyclonal CD4+ T cells were transferred into unreconstituted, Treg-reconstituted, or conventional T cell–reconstituted Rag–/– mice. Second daily IL-2/JES6-1 treatment was continued for all groups until lymphoid organ harvest 7 days after CFSE-labeled cell transfer. Adoptively transferred CD4+ WT T cells were identified based on differential expression of CD45 alleles. Left panel: Representative CFSE division profiles from the pLN day 7 after transfer. Right panel: Ratio of CFSE– T cells (>7 divisions) to CFSE+ T cells (0–3 divisions) within adoptively transferred T cells was calculated (n = 6 per group). Data are pooled from 2 independent experiments. (C) Proliferation of adoptively transferred 5C.C7 T cells in response to 1 μg i.v. peptide in Rag–/– hosts, either unreconstituted or reconstituted with 2.5 × 106 Tregs or conventional T cells (n = 4 per group). Left panel: Representative CFSE division profiles in pLN of Rag–/– hosts (unfilled histograms) compared with WT controls (filled histograms) 3 days after adoptive transfer of 5C.C7 T cells. Right panel: MFI of CFSE expression by adoptively transferred 5C.C7 T cells. Data are representative of 2 independent experiments. Statistical analysis of A–C was performed using one-way ANOVA with a Newman-Keuls post-test. Bars represent mean ± SEM with individual values indicated by the open circles. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, and ****P < 0.0001.

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