The coat protein I (COPI) complex mediates retrograde trafficking from the Golgi to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Five siblings with persistent bacterial and viral infections and defective humoral and cellular immunity had a homozygous p.K652E mutation in the γ1 subunit of COPI (γ1-COP). The mutation disrupts COPI binding to the KDEL receptor and impairs the retrieval of KDEL-bearing chaperones from the Golgi to the ER. Homozygous Copg1K652E mice had increased ER stress in activated T and B cells, poor antibody responses, and normal numbers of T cells that proliferated normally, but underwent increased apoptosis upon activation. Exposure of the mutants to pet store mice caused weight loss, lymphopenia, and defective T cell proliferation that recapitulated the findings in the patients. The ER stress-relieving agent tauroursodeoxycholic acid corrected the immune defects of the mutants and reversed the phenotype they acquired following exposure to pet store mice. This study establishes the role of γ1-COP in the ER retrieval of KDEL-bearing chaperones and thereby the importance of ER homeostasis in adaptive immunity.
Wayne Bainter, Craig D. Platt, Seung-Yeol Park, Kelsey Stafstrom, Jacqueline G. Wallace, Zachary T. Peters, Michel J. Massaad, Michel Becuwe, Sandra Andrea Salinas, Jennifer Jones, Sarah Beaussant-Cohen, Faris Jaber, Jia-Shu Yang, Tobias C. Walther, Jordan S. Orange, Chitong Rao, Seth Rakoff-Nahoum, Maria Tsokos, Shafiq Ur Rehman Naseem, Salem Al-Tamemi, Janet Chou, Victor W. Hsu, Raif S. Geha
The Editorial Board will only consider comments that are deemed relevant and of interest to readers. The Journal will not post data that have not been subjected to peer review; or a comment that is essentially a reiteration of another comment.