Intestinal microbiota link lymphopenia to murine autoimmunity via PD-1+CXCR5-/dim B-helper T cell induction

Sci Rep. 2017 Apr 26:7:46037. doi: 10.1038/srep46037.

Abstract

T cell lymphopenia results in peripheral homeostatic expansion to maintain the T cell immune system, which is termed lymphopenia-induced proliferation (LIP). LIP is a potential risk for expanding autoreactive clones to become pathogenic in human and murine autoimmune diseases. However, the ontogeny of T cells that induce autoantibody production by autoreactive B cells in LIP remains unclear. Transfer of CD4+CD25- conventional T (Tc) cells into T-cell-deficient athymic nude mice has been previously reported as a LIP-induced autoimmune model which develops organ-specific autoimmune diseases and systemic antinuclear antibodies (ANAs). We show here that via LIP in this model, Tc cells proliferated and differentiated into PD-1+CXCR5-/dim B-helper T cells, which promoted splenic germinal center (GC) formation, provided help for autoantibody-producing B cells, and had distinctive features of follicular helper T (Tfh) cells except that they do not express high CXCR5. Intestinal microbiota were essential for their generation, since depletion of them in recipient mice by antibiotics resulted in a reduction of LIP-induced PD-1+CXCR5-/dim B-helper T cells and an amelioration of autoimmune responses. Our findings will contribute to the elucidation of the mechanism of lymphopenia-induced autoimmunity and autoantibody production, and will pave the way for microbiota-targeted novel therapeutic approaches to systemic autoimmune diseases.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / therapeutic use
  • Antibodies, Antinuclear
  • Antibody Formation
  • Antigens / metabolism
  • Antigens, CD / metabolism
  • Autoantibodies / immunology
  • Autoimmunity*
  • B-Lymphocytes / immunology*
  • Cell Differentiation
  • Cell Proliferation
  • Feces / microbiology
  • Gastritis / drug therapy
  • Gastritis / immunology
  • Gastritis / microbiology
  • Gastrointestinal Microbiome*
  • Germinal Center / metabolism
  • Immunoglobulin Class Switching
  • Lymphopenia / immunology*
  • Lymphopenia / microbiology*
  • Lymphopenia / pathology
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Mice, Nude
  • Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor / metabolism*
  • Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / metabolism
  • Receptors, CXCR5 / metabolism*
  • Spleen / pathology
  • T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer / immunology*

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Antibodies, Antinuclear
  • Antigens
  • Antigens, CD
  • Autoantibodies
  • Pdcd1 protein, mouse
  • Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor
  • Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell
  • Receptors, CXCR5