Peripheral Blood from Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients Shows Decreased Treg CD25 Expression and Reduced Frequency of Effector Treg Subpopulation

Eunbyeol Go; Su-Jin Yoo; Suyoung Choi; Pureum Sun; Min Kyung Jung; Somin Kwon; Bu Yeon Heo; Yeeun Kim; Ju-Gyeong Kang; Jinhyun Kim; Eui-Cheol Shin; Seong Wook Kang; Jaeyul Kwon

doi:10.3390/cells10040801

Peripheral Blood from Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients Shows Decreased T_reg CD25 Expression and Reduced Frequency of Effector T_reg Subpopulation

Cells. 2021 Apr 3;10(4):801. doi: 10.3390/cells10040801.

Authors

Eunbyeol Go^{1

2}, Su-Jin Yoo³, Suyoung Choi^{1

2

4}, Pureum Sun^{1

2}, Min Kyung Jung⁵, Somin Kwon⁶, Bu Yeon Heo^{1

2

4}, Yeeun Kim^{1

2}, Ju-Gyeong Kang⁷, Jinhyun Kim³, Eui-Cheol Shin^{5

8}, Seong Wook Kang³, Jaeyul Kwon^{1

2

4

9

10}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medical Science, College of Medicine, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 35015, Korea.
² Department of Infection Biology, College of Medicine, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 35015, Korea.
³ Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 35015, Korea.
⁴ Brain Korea 21 FOUR Project for Medical Science, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 35015, Korea.
⁵ Laboratory of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, Korea.
⁶ Laboratory of Neurogenetics, National Institute on Aging, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
⁷ Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon 34141, Korea.
⁸ The Center for Epidemic Preparedness, KAIST Institute, Daejeon 34141, Korea.
⁹ Department of Medical Education, College of Medicine, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 35015, Korea.
¹⁰ Translational Immunology Institute, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 35015, Korea.

Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a common autoimmune disease characterized by immune cell infiltration of the synovium, leading to the loss of cartilage, bone, and joint function. Although regulatory T (T_reg) cells are thought to modulate the initiation and progression of RA, a consensus has yet to be reached regarding the function and composition of T_reg cells in RA patients. To address these discrepancies, we analyzed not only the total T_reg frequency but also that of T_reg subpopulations in the peripheral blood of RA patients and healthy controls by flow cytometry. We found that the total T_reg population was not significantly different between RA and control subjects. However, the effector T_reg cell subgroup, defined as CD45RA^-CD25^hi, showed markedly decreased frequency in RA patients. In addition, the total T_reg population from RA patients showed a significant decline in the expression of CD25. Both the naïve and effector T_reg subgroups also showed marked reduction of CD25 expression in RA patients compared to controls. These data suggest that the decreased frequency of effector T_reg cells and overall reduction of CD25 expression in T_reg cells in the peripheral blood may be evidence of altered T_reg homeostasis associated with RA pathogenesis.

Keywords: CD127; CD25; CD45RA; Foxp3; effector regulatory T cells; naïve regulatory T cells; regulatory T cells; rheumatoid arthritis.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Arthritis, Rheumatoid / blood*
Arthritis, Rheumatoid / immunology*
Case-Control Studies
Humans
Interleukin-2 Receptor alpha Subunit / metabolism*
Lymphocyte Count
T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / immunology*

Substances

IL2RA protein, human
Interleukin-2 Receptor alpha Subunit

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding