A20 deletion in T cells modulates acute graft-versus-host disease in mice

5 years ago

A20 deletion in T cells modulates acute graft-versus-host disease in mice

Julia Slotta-Huspenina, Vera Otten, Geert Loo, Julius C. Fischer, Katja Steiger, Silvia Spoerl, Tobias Haas, Christian Peschel, Hendrik Poeck, Rudi Beyaert, Martina Schmickl

The NF-κB regulator A20 limits inflammation by providing negative feedback in myeloid cells and B cells. Functional lack of A20 has been linked to several inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. To define how A20 affects the functionality of T effector cells in a highly inflammatory environment, we performed conventional allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) with A20-deficient CD4+ and CD8+ donor T cells in mice. Severity and mortality of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after allo-HSCT was drastically reduced in recipients transplanted with conventional doses of A20-deficient T cells. Consistently, we found that the A20-deficient donor T cell compartment was strongly diminished at various timepoints after allo-HSCT. However, proportionally more A20-deficient donor T cells produced IFN-γ and systemic inflammation was elevated early after allo-HSCT. Consequently, increasing the dose of transplanted A20-deficient T cells reversed the original phenotype and resulted in enhanced GVHD mortality compared to recipients that received A20+/+ T cells. Still, A20-deficient T cells, activated either through T cell receptor-dependent or -independent mechanisms, were less viable than control A20+/+ T cells, highlighting that A20 balances both, T cell activation and survival. Thus, our findings suggest that targeting A20 in T cells may allow to modulate T cell mediated inflammatory diseases like GVHD. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Publisher URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/resolve/doi

DOI: 10.1002/eji.201646911