Project description:Human IL-10– and IL-10+ TH17 clones maintained their pro- or anti-inflammatory characteristics after long-term culture. There were similarities between human IL-10– vs. IL-10+ TH17 clones and mouse pathogenic vs. non-pathogenic TH17 cells.
Project description:Human peripheral blood IFN-γ+IL-17+ (TH1/17) and IFN-γ–IL-17+ (TH17) CD4+ T cells display distinct transcriptional profiles in high-throughput transcription analyses. Compared to TH17 cells, TH1/17 cells have similar gene signatures to mouse pathogenic TH17 cells.
Project description:T helper cells integrate signals from their microenvironment to acquire distinct specialization programs for efficient clearance of diverse pathogens or for immunotolerance. Ionic signals have recently been demonstrated to affect T cell polarization and function. Sodium chloride (NaCl) was proposed to accumulate in peripheral tissues upon dietary intake and to promote autoimmunity via the Th17 cell axis. Here we demonstrate that high NaCl conditions induced a stable, pathogen-specific, anti-inflammatory Th17 cell fate in human T cells in vitro. The p38/MAPK pathway, involving NFAT5 and SGK1, regulated FoxP3 and interleukin (IL)-17-expression in high-NaCl conditions. The NaCl-induced acquisition of an anti-inflammatory Th17 cell fate was confirmed in vivo in an experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) mouse model, which demonstrated strongly reduced disease symptoms upon transfer of T cells polarized in high NaCl conditions. However, NaCl was coopted to promote murine and human Th17 cell pathogenicity, if T cell stimulation occurred in a pro-inflammatory and TGF--low cytokine microenvironment. Taken together, our findings reveal a context-dependent, dichotomous role for NaCl in shaping Th17 cell pathogenicity. NaCl might therefore prove beneficial for the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases in combination with cytokine-blocking drugs.
Project description:Th17 cells are a heterogeneous population that is critical for tissue homeostasis and inflammation during clearance of infections and autoimmunity. Despite substantial efforts distinguishing homeostatic and inflammatory roles of Th17 cells, the mechanism underlying the divergent functions of inflammatory Th17 cells is poorly understood. In this study, we show that the inflammatory Th17 engaged in autoimmune colitis and those involved in infection-induced colitis are two distinguishable populations illustrated by their distinct responses to a pharmacological molecule, clofazimine (CLF). Distinct from existing Th17 inhibitors, CLF selectively inhibits pro-autoimmune Th17 cells while preserving the functional state of infection-elicited Th17 cells through restricting Aldh1l2expression. Using bulk RNA sequencing, we explored transcriptional response to CLF on in vitro differentiated inflammatory and homeostatic Th17 cells. Notably, we identified a unique suppression in the transcription of signature inflammatory genes in Th17 cells with a marginal effect on those elicited by infection.
Project description:Th17 cells are a heterogeneous population that is critical for tissue homeostasis and inflammation during clearance of infections and autoimmunity. Despite substantial efforts distinguishing homeostatic and inflammatory roles of Th17 cells, the mechanism underlying the divergent functions of inflammatory Th17 cells is poorly understood. In this study, we show that the inflammatory Th17 engaged in autoimmune colitis and those involved in infection-induced colitis are two distinguishable populations illustrated by their distinct responses to a pharmacological molecule, clofazimine (CLF). Distinct from existing Th17 inhibitors, CLF selectively inhibits pro-autoimmune Th17 cells while preserving the functional state of infection-elicited Th17 cells through restricting Aldh1l2expression. Using single-cell RNA sequencing, we explored inflammatory Th17 transcriptional response to CLF from the colonic tissue of mice during autoimmune colitis and Citrobacter rodentiuminfection using Rorc gfp/+ reportor mice. Notably, we identified a unique suppression in the transcription of signature inflammatory genes in Th17 cells from autoimmune colitis with a marginal effect on those elicited by infection. Additionally, we illustrate with these data that the transcriptionally programming of pro-autoimmune Th17 cells are, indeed, unique compared to infection-elicited Th17 cells. Finally, we analyzed the impact of CLF on human inflammatory Th17 cells from the inflammed colon of a patient with IBD.
Project description:The transcription factor IRF4 is crucial for the fate determination of pro-inflammatory T helper (Th)17 and the functionally opposing group of immunomodulatory regulatory T (Treg) cells. However, molecular mechanisms of how IRF4 steers diverse transcriptional programs in Th17 and Treg cells are far from being definitive. To unveil IRF4-driven lineage determination, we integrated data derived from affinity-purification and full mass spectrometry-based proteome analysis with chromatin immune precipitation sequencing. This allowed the characterization of subtype-specific molecular programs and the identification of IRF4 interactors in the Th17/Treg context. Our data reveal that IRF4-interacting transcription factors are recruited to IRF composite elements for the regulation of cell type-specific transcriptional programs as exemplarily demonstrated for FLI1, which in cooperation with IRF4 promotes Th17-specific gene expression. Inhibition of FLI1 markedly impaired Th17-differentiation. The present ‘omics’ dataset provides a valuable resource for studying IRF4-mediated gene regulatory programs in pro- and anti-inflammatory immune responses.