| First Author | Thornton AM | Year | 2019 |
| Journal | Eur J Immunol | Volume | 49 |
| Issue | 3 | Pages | 398-412 |
| PubMed ID | 30620397 | Mgi Jnum | J:274019 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:6283208 | Doi | 10.1002/eji.201847935 |
| Citation | Thornton AM, et al. (2019) Helios(+) and Helios(-) Treg subpopulations are phenotypically and functionally distinct and express dissimilar TCR repertoires. Eur J Immunol 49(3):398-412 |
| abstractText | The transcription factor Helios is expressed in a large subset of Foxp3(+) Tregs. We previously proposed that Helios is a marker of thymic derived Treg (tTreg), while Helios(-) Treg were induced from Foxp3(-) T conventional (Tconv) cells in the periphery (pTreg). To compare the two Treg subpopulations, we generated Helios-GFP reporter mice and crossed them to Foxp3-RFP reporter mice. The Helios(+) Treg population expressed a more activated phenotype, had a slightly higher suppressive capacity in vitro and expressed a more highly demethylated TSDR but were equivalent in their ability to suppress inflammatory bowel disease in vivo. However, Helios(+) Treg more effectively inhibited the proliferation of activated, autoreactive splenocytes from scurfy mice. When Helios(+) and Helios(-) Treg were transferred to lymphoreplete mice, both populations maintained comparable Foxp3 expression, but Foxp3 expression was less stable in Helios(-) Treg when transferred to lymphopenic mice. Gene expression profiling demonstrated a large number of differentially expressed genes and showed that Helios(-) Treg expressed certain genes normally expressed in CD4(+) Foxp3(-) T cells. TCR repertoire analysis indicated very little overlap between Helios(+) and Helios(-) Treg. Thus, Helios(+) and Helios(-) Treg subpopulations are phenotypically and functionally distinct and express dissimilar TCR repertoires. |
