Genetic and epigenetic studies of FOXP3 in asthma and allergy

Cintia Rodrigues Marques; Ryan Santos Costa; Gustavo Nunes de Oliveira Costa; Thiago Magalhães da Silva; Tatiane Oliveira Teixeira; Emília Maria Medeiros de Andrade; Alana A Galvão; Valdirene Leão Carneiro; Camila Alexandrina Figueiredo

doi:10.1186/s40733-015-0012-4

Genetic and epigenetic studies of FOXP3 in asthma and allergy

Asthma Res Pract. 2015 Oct 20:1:10. doi: 10.1186/s40733-015-0012-4. eCollection 2015.

Authors

Cintia Rodrigues Marques¹, Ryan Santos Costa¹, Gustavo Nunes de Oliveira Costa², Thiago Magalhães da Silva^{2

3}, Tatiane Oliveira Teixeira¹, Emília Maria Medeiros de Andrade¹, Alana A Galvão¹, Valdirene Leão Carneiro⁴, Camila Alexandrina Figueiredo¹

Affiliations

¹ Instituto de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Avenida Reitor Miguel Calmon, s/n, Canela, CEP - 40110-100 Salvador, Bahia Brazil.
² Instituto de Saúde Coletiva, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, Brazil.
³ Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia, Jequié, Brazil.
⁴ Departamento de Ciências da Vida, Universidade do Estado da Bahia, Salvador, Brazil.

Abstract

Multiple factors interact to trigger allergic diseases, including individual genetic background and factors related to the environment such as exposure to allergens, air pollution and respiratory infections. The FOXP3 transcription factor is constitutively expressed in CD4⁺CD25⁺FOXP3⁺ regulatory T cells (Tregs) and is critical for the maintenance of immune homeostasis. For example, FOXP3 is responsible for the suppression of the Th2 response following exposure to allergens. Studies have shown that expression of the FOXP3 gene is reduced in patients with asthma and allergies compared to healthy controls. Therefore, the impairment of FOXP3 function caused by genetic polymorphisms and/or epigenetic mechanisms may be involved in the etiology of asthma and other allergic diseases. This review discusses some aspects of the role of FOXP3 in the development of asthma and allergy, with a particular emphasis on genetic and epigenetic factors.