Targeting inflammatory T helper cells via retinoic acid-related orphan receptor gamma t is ineffective to prevent allo-response-driven colitis

  • Intestinal graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) is a life-threatening, inflammatory donor T cell-mediated complication of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). In the light of the reported efficacy of interleukin-23 (IL-23)-blockade to mitigate syngeneic intestinal inflammation in inflammatory bowel disease patients, targeting IL-23 and thereby interleukin-17a (IL-17a) producing T helper (Th17) cells as the T cell subset assumed to be mostly regulated by IL-23, has emerged as a putatively general concept to harness immune-mediated mucosal inflammation irrespective of the underlying trigger. However, the role of Th17 cells during allo-response driven colitis remains ambiguous due to a series of studies with inconclusive results. Interestingly, we recently identified granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF+) T cells to be promoted by interleukin-7 (IL-7) signaling and controlled by the activating protein-1 transcription factor family member basic leucine zipper transcription factor ATF-like (BATF) as critical mediators of intestinal GvHD in mice. Given the dual role of BATF, the contribution of IL-23-mediated signaling within donor T cells and bona fide Th17 cells remains to be delineated from the regulation of GM-CSF+ T cells in the absence of BATF. Here, we found in a complete MHC class I-mismatched model that genetic inactivation of the IL-23 receptor (IL-23R) or the transcription factor retinoic acid-related orphan receptor gamma t (RORγt) within donor T cells similarly ablated Th17 cell formation in vivo but preserved the T cells’ ability to induce intestinal GvHD in a compared to wild-type controls indistinguishable manner. Importantly, RORγt-independent manifestation of intestinal GvHD was completely dependent on BATF-regulated GM-CSF+ T cells as BATF/RORγt double-deficient T cells failed to induce colitis and the antibody-mediated blockage of IL-7/IL-7R interaction and GM-CSF significantly diminished signs of intestinal GvHD elicited by RORγt-deficient donor T cells. Finally, in analogy to our murine studies, colonic RORC expression levels inversely correlated with the presence of GvHD in allo-HSCT patients. Together, this study provides a crucial example of a BATF-dependent, however, IL-23R signaling- and RORγt-, i.e., Th17 fate-independent regulation of a colitogenic T cell population critically impacting the current understanding of intestinal GvHD.
Metadaten
Author:Vera Buchele, Benjamin Abendroth, Maike Büttner-Herold, Tina Vogler, Johanna Rothamer, Sakhila Ghimire, Evelyn UllrichORCiDGND, Ernst Holler, Markus Neurath, Kai Hildner
URN:urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-468197
DOI:https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2018.01138
ISSN:1664-3224
Pubmed Id:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29910804
Parent Title (English):Frontiers in immunology
Publisher:Frontiers Media
Place of publication:Lausanne
Contributor(s):Fabio Cominelli
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Year of Completion:2018
Date of first Publication:2018/05/25
Publishing Institution:Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg
Release Date:2018/06/21
Tag:T helper 17 cells; basic leucine zipper transcription factor ATF-like; colitis; granulocytemacrophage colony-stimulating factor; interleukin-23 receptor; intestinal graft-versushost disease; retinoic acid-related orphan receptor gamma t
Volume:9
Issue:Art. 1138
Page Number:14
First Page:1
Last Page:14
Note:
Copyright: © 2018 Buchele, Abendroth, Büttner-Herold, Vogler, Rothamer, Ghimire, Ullrich, Holler, Neurath and Hildner. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
HeBIS-PPN:433825243
Institutes:Medizin / Medizin
Dewey Decimal Classification:6 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / 61 Medizin und Gesundheit / 610 Medizin und Gesundheit
Sammlungen:Universitätspublikationen
Licence (German):License LogoCreative Commons - Namensnennung 4.0