Increased cathepsin S in Prdm1^-/- dendritic cells alters the T_FH cell repertoire and contributes to lupus.

ABSTRACT: Aberrant population expansion of follicular helper T cells (T_FH cells) occurs in patients with lupus. An unanswered question is whether an altered repertoire of T cell antigen receptors (TCRs) is associated with such expansion. Here we found that the transcription factor Blimp-1 (encoded by Prdm1) repressed expression of the gene encoding cathepsin S (Ctss), a cysteine protease that cleaves invariant chains and produces antigenic peptides for loading onto major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II molecules. The increased CTSS expression in dendritic cells (DCs) from female mice with dendritic cell-specific conditional knockout of Prdm1 (CKO mice) altered the presentation of antigen to CD4⁺ T cells. Analysis of complementarity-determining region 3 (CDR3) regions

SUBMITTER: Kim SJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5568473 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature