Foxp3 controls autoreactive T cell activation through transcriptional regulation of early growth response genes and E3 ubiquitin ligase genes, independently of thymic selection - PubMed (original) (raw)

. 2006 Dec;121(3):274-85.

doi: 10.1016/j.clim.2006.07.004. Epub 2006 Aug 30.

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Foxp3 controls autoreactive T cell activation through transcriptional regulation of early growth response genes and E3 ubiquitin ligase genes, independently of thymic selection

Xing Chang et al. Clin Immunol. 2006 Dec.

Abstract

To elucidate the mechanisms of autoreactive T cell activation and expansion, we used endogenous viral superantigens (VSAg)-reactive T cells as a model of self-antigens in two strains of Foxp3-mutant mice. These two strains, together with wild-type mice, provided us with an advantage to simultaneously study the positively and negatively selected as well as rescued autoreactive T cells. We show here that while both VSAg-reactive and non-VSAg-reactive T cells are equally activated in Foxp3-mutant mice, only the VSAg-reactive T cells are preferentially expanded independently of their selected states in the thymus. The T cell activation appears to be controlled by Foxp3 through transcriptional regulation of early growth response (Egr) genes Egr-2 and Egr-3, and E3 ubiquitin (Ub) ligase genes Cblb, Itch and GRAIL, subsequently affecting degradation of two key signaling proteins, PLCgamma1 and PKC-theta. Physiologically, the positively, but not negatively selected VSAg-reactive T cells are spontaneously activated without significant expansion. The results suggest that autoreactive T cell activation is controlled by Foxp3 through transcriptional regulation of early growth response genes and E3 ubiquitin ligase genes, independently of thymic selection.

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