An intersection between the self-reactive regulatory and nonregulatory T cell receptor repertoires

Nat Immunol. 2006 Apr;7(4):401-10. doi: 10.1038/ni1318. Epub 2006 Mar 12.

Abstract

The relationship between the T cell receptor (TCR) repertoires used by self-reactive transcription factor Foxp3-positive (Foxp3(+)) CD4(+) regulatory T cells (T(reg) cells) and nonregulatory T cells with autoimmune potential is unclear. Here we found that the TCR repertoire of thymic T(reg) cells in TCRbeta-transgenic mice was diverse and was more similar to that of peripheral T(reg) cells than that of nonregulatory T cells, suggesting that thymic T(reg) cells make a substantial contribution to the peripheral T(reg) cell population. Activated T cells in Foxp3-deficient mice, which lack T(reg) cells, 'preferentially' used TCRs found in the TCR repertoire of T(reg) cells in Foxp3-sufficient TCRbeta-transgenic mice, suggesting that these self-reactive TCRs contribute to the pathology of Foxp3-deficient mice. Our analyses suggest that T(reg) cells and potentially pathogenic autoimmune T cells use overlapping pools of self-reactive TCRs.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Autoimmunity / immunology*
  • Forkhead Transcription Factors / immunology*
  • Gene Library
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Mice, Knockout
  • Mice, Transgenic
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / immunology*
  • Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / metabolism
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA
  • Specific Pathogen-Free Organisms
  • T-Lymphocyte Subsets / immunology*
  • T-Lymphocyte Subsets / metabolism
  • T-Lymphocytes / immunology*
  • T-Lymphocytes / metabolism
  • T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / immunology*
  • T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / metabolism
  • Thymus Gland / cytology
  • Thymus Gland / immunology

Substances

  • Forkhead Transcription Factors
  • Foxp3 protein, mouse
  • Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell