Project description:Carbo2013 - Cytokine driven CD4+ T Cell differentiation and phenotype plasticity
CD4+ T cells can differentiate into different phenotypes
depending on the cytokine milieu. Here a computational and mathematical model with sixty ordinary differential equations representing a CD4+ T cell differentiating into either Th1, Th2, Th17 or iTreg cells, has been constructed.
The model includes cytokines,
nuclear receptors and transcription factors that define fate
and function of CD4+ T cells. Computational simulations
illustrate how a proinflammatory Th17 cell can undergo
reprogramming into an anti-inflammatory iTreg phenotype
following PPARc activation.
This model is described in the article:
Systems Modeling of Molecular Mechanisms Controlling Cytokine-driven CD4+ T Cell Differentiation and Phenotype Plasticity.
Carbo A, Hontecillas R, Kronsteiner B, Viladomiu M, Pedragosa M, Lu P, Philipson CW, Hoops S, Marathe M, Eubank S, Bisset K, Wendelsdorf K, Jarrah A, Mei Y, Bassaganya-Riera J
PLoS Computational Biology [2013, 9(4):e1003027]
Abstract:
Differentiation of CD4+ T cells into effector or regulatory phenotypes is tightly controlled by the cytokine milieu, complex intracellular signaling networks and numerous transcriptional regulators. We combined experimental approaches and computational modeling to investigate the mechanisms controlling differentiation and plasticity of CD4+ T cells in the gut of mice. Our computational model encompasses the major intracellular pathways involved in CD4+ T cell differentiation into T helper 1 (Th1), Th2, Th17 and induced regulatory T cells (iTreg). Our modeling efforts predicted a critical role for peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) in modulating plasticity between Th17 and iTreg cells. PPARγ regulates differentiation, activation and cytokine production, thereby controlling the induction of effector and regulatory responses, and is a promising therapeutic target for dysregulated immune responses and inflammation. Our modeling efforts predict that following PPARγ activation, Th17 cells undergo phenotype switch and become iTreg cells. This prediction was validated by results of adoptive transfer studies showing an increase of colonic iTreg and a decrease of Th17 cells in the gut mucosa of mice with colitis following pharmacological activation of PPARγ. Deletion of PPARγ in CD4+ T cells impaired mucosal iTreg and enhanced colitogenic Th17 responses in mice with CD4+ T cell-induced colitis. Thus, for the first time we provide novel molecular evidence in vivo demonstrating that PPARγ in addition to regulating CD4+ T cell differentiation also plays a major role controlling Th17 and iTreg plasticity in the gut mucosa.
Author's comment:
CD4+ T cell computational model (Version 1.4)
Steady state corrected. There was a problem in the internalization of IL-17 in its mathematical function.
This model is hosted on BioModels Database
and identified
by: MODEL1304230001
.
To cite BioModels Database, please use: BioModels Database: An enhanced, curated and annotated resource
for published quantitative kinetic models
.
To the extent possible under law, all copyright and related or
neighbouring rights to this encoded model have been dedicated to the public
domain worldwide. Please refer to CC0 Public Domain
Dedication
for more information.
Project description:Background: Regulatory T cells (Tregs) expressing the transcription factor FOXP3 are crucial mediators of self-tolerance, preventing autoimmune diseases but possibly hampering tumor rejection. Clinical manipulation of Tregs is of great interest, and first-in-man trials of Treg transfer achieved promising outcomes. Yet, the mechanisms governing induced Treg (iTreg) differentiation and the regulation of FOXP3 are incompletely understood. Results: To gain a comprehensive and unbiased molecular understanding of FOXP3 induction, we performed time-series RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) and proteomics profiling on the same samples during human iTreg differentiation. To enable the broad analysis of universal FOXP3-inducing pathways, we used five differentiation protocols in parallel. Integrative analysis of the transcriptome and proteome confirmed involvement of specific molecular processes, as well as overlap of a novel iTreg subnetwork with known Treg regulators and autoimmunity-associated genes. Importantly, we propose 37 novel molecules putatively involved in iTreg differentiation. Their relevance was validated by: a targeted shRNA screen confirming a functional role in FOXP3 induction; discriminant analyses classifying iTregs accordingly; and comparable expression in an independent novel iTreg RNA Seq data set. Conclusion: The data generated by this novel approach facilitate understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying iTreg generation as well as the concomitant changes in the transcriptome and proteome. Our results provide a reference map exploitable for future discovery of markers and drug candidates governing control of Tregs, which has important implications for the treatment of cancer, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases
Project description:Regulatory T cells (Tregs) expressing the transcription factor FOXP3 are crucial mediators of self-tolerance, preventing autoimmune diseases but possibly hampering tumor rejection. Clinical manipulation of Tregs is of great interest, and first- in-man trials of Treg transfer achieved promising outcomes. Yet, the mechanisms governing induced Treg (iTreg) differentiation and the regulation of FOXP3 are incompletely understood. To gain a comprehensive and unbiased molecular understanding of FOXP3 induction, we performed time-series RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) and proteomics profiling on the same samples during human iTreg differentiation. To enable the broad analysis of universal FOXP3-inducing pathways, we used five differentiation protocols in parallel. Integrative analysis of the transcriptome and proteome confirmed involvement of specific molecular processes, as well as overlap of a novel iTreg subnetwork with known Treg regulators and autoimmunity-associated genes. Importantly, we propose 37 novel molecules putatively involved in iTreg differentiation. Their relevance was validated by: a targeted shRNA screen confirming a functional role in FOXP3 induction; discriminant analyses classifying iTregs accordingly; and comparable expression in an independent novel iTreg RNA-Seq data set. The data generated by this novel approach facilitate understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying iTreg generation as well as the concomitant changes in the transcriptome and proteome. Our results provide a reference map exploitable for future discovery of markers and drug candidates governing control of Tregs, which has important implications for the treatment of cancer, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
Project description:Human naïve CD4+ T cells (CD4+ CD45RA+ CD25- CD45RO- CD8- CD14- CD15- CD16- CD19- CD34- CD36- CD56- CD123- TCRγ/δ- HLA-DR- and CD235a-) were magnetically negatively isolated from peripheral blood. Cells were stimulated with anti-CD3/anti-CD28 antibodies plus IL-2, and samples were taken at 6h, 24h, 48h and 6d of stimulation. Mock stimulation control cells (sample group G02) received no further compounds, whereas induced regulatory T cells (iTregs) were either differentiated under addition of TGF-b (sample group G03) or TGF-b + retinoic acid + rapamycin (sample group G05). As control, naïve CD4+ T cells were left unstimulated (0h; sample group G01). Ex vivo isolated CD25-high cells were included as positive control for the Treg signature (“nTreg”; sample group G07). Tregs were defined by expression of FOXP3, the “master” transcription factor of Tregs. Samples from 3 male healthy donors (age 34 to 38 years) were prepared with the Qiagen Allprep kit and protein precipitate was solubilized (5 min, 95°C) in freshly prepared buffer containing 4% (w/v) SDS, 25 mM HEPES pH 7.6, 1mM DTT. Samples were prepared using the FASP assay and peptides were labeled with TMT 10-plex reagents and MS data acquired on a Q Exactive Hybrid Quadrupole-Orbitrap Mass Spectrometer.
Phenotyping, stability and functional analyses for iTregs induced under these conditions are available in Schmidt A et al., PLoSONE 2016, PMID: 26886923). In the publication associated to this dataset, the time-course proteomic profiling during human Treg differentiation is presented and integrated with RNA-Seq data from the same cells (including additional iTreg culture conditions and 2h time points for RNA-Seq). The data underwent clustering, network analysis and disease enrichment, which revealed many known regulators of Tregs along with novel candidate genes putatively involved in FOXP3 induction, the biological importance of which was validated with a targeted shRNA screen.
Project description:Long non-coding RNA, LIRIL2R was identified and confirmed to be differentially expressed in regulatory T cells by RNAseq. A role of LIRIL2R was studied in iTreg cells using multiple approaches. Data independent analysis proteomics revealed effects of LIRIL2R knock down in Treg cells. Loss of Treg signature proteins upon LIRIL2R knock down signified the its role in iTreg cell development and function.