IFNγ Regulates Activated Vδ2+ T Cells through a Feedback Mechanism Mediated by Mesenchymal Stem Cells

PLoS One. 2017 Jan 11;12(1):e0169362. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0169362. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

γδ T cells play a role in a wide range of diseases such as autoimmunity and cancer. The majority of circulating human γδ T lymphocytes express a Vγ9Vδ2+ (Vδ2+) T cell receptor (TCR) and following activation release pro-inflammatory cytokines. In this study, we show that IFNγ, produced by Vδ2+ cells, activates mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-mediated immunosupression, which in turn exerts a negative feedback mechanism on γδ T cell function ranging from cytokine production to proliferation. Importantly, this modulatory effect is limited to a short period of time (<24 hours) post-T cell activation, after which MSCs can no longer exert their immunoregulatory capacity. Using genetically modified MSCs with the IFNγ receptor 1 constitutively silenced, we demonstrate that IFNγ is essential to this process. Activated γδ T cells induce expression of several factors by MSCs that participate in the depletion of amino acids. In particular, we show that indolamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), an enzyme involved in L-tryptophan degradation, is responsible for MSC-mediated immunosuppression of Vδ2+ T cells. Thus, our data demonstrate that γδ T cell responses can be immuno-modulated by different signals derived from MSC.

MeSH terms

  • Bone Marrow Cells / drug effects
  • Bone Marrow Cells / physiology
  • Cell Proliferation / drug effects
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Feedback, Physiological / drug effects
  • Humans
  • Immune Tolerance / drug effects
  • Interferon-gamma / pharmacology*
  • Lymphocyte Activation / drug effects*
  • Mesenchymal Stem Cells / drug effects*
  • Mesenchymal Stem Cells / physiology
  • Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta / metabolism
  • Signal Transduction / drug effects
  • Signal Transduction / immunology
  • T-Lymphocytes / drug effects*
  • T-Lymphocytes / immunology
  • T-Lymphocytes / metabolism

Substances

  • Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta
  • Interferon-gamma

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the “Obra Social KUTXA”, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (FIS PI12/01982), the Basque Country Government and the Diputación Foral de Guipúzcoa. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.