Intestinal microbiota-specific Th17 cells possess regulatory properties and suppress effector T cells via c-MAF and IL-10

Abstract

Commensal microbes induce cytokine-producing effector tissue-resident CD4⁺ T cells, but the function of these T cells in mucosal homeostasis is not well understood. Here, we report that commensal-specific intestinal Th17 cells possess an anti-inflammatory phenotype marked by expression of interleukin (IL)-10 and co-inhibitory receptors. The anti-inflammatory phenotype of gut-resident commensal-specific Th17 cells was driven by the transcription factor c-MAF. IL-10-producing commensal-specific Th17 cells were heterogeneous and derived from a TCF1⁺ gut-resident progenitor Th17 cell population. Th17 cells acquired IL-10 expression and anti-inflammatory phenotype in the small-intestinal lamina propria. IL-10 production by CD4⁺ T cells and IL-10 signaling in intestinal macrophages drove IL-10 expression by commensal-specific Th17 cells. Intestinal commensal-specific Th17 cells possessed immunoregulatory functions and curbed effector T cell activity in vitro and in vivo in an IL-10-dependent and c-MAF-dependent manner. Our results suggest that tissue-resident commensal-specific Th17 cells perform regulatory functions in mucosal homeostasis.

Keywords: IL-10; TCF1; Th17 cells; Treg; c-MAF; commensal-specific CD4 T cells; intestine; microbiota; mucosal immunology; segmented filamentous bacteria.