| First Author | Yamanouchi J | Year | 2007 |
| Journal | Nat Genet | Volume | 39 |
| Issue | 3 | Pages | 329-37 |
| PubMed ID | 17277778 | Mgi Jnum | J:120349 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3706301 | Doi | 10.1038/ng1958 |
| Citation | Yamanouchi J, et al. (2007) Interleukin-2 gene variation impairs regulatory T cell function and causes autoimmunity. Nat Genet 39(3):329-37 |
| abstractText | Autoimmune diseases are thought to result from imbalances in normal immune physiology and regulation. Here, we show that autoimmune disease susceptibility and resistance alleles on mouse chromosome 3 (Idd3) correlate with differential expression of the key immunoregulatory cytokine interleukin-2 (IL-2). In order to test directly that an approximately twofold reduction in IL-2 underpins the Idd3-linked destabilization of immune homeostasis, we show that engineered haplodeficiency of Il2 gene expression not only reduces T cell IL-2 production by twofold but also mimics the autoimmune dysregulatory effects of the naturally occurring susceptibility alleles of Il2. Reduced IL-2 production achieved by either genetic mechanism correlates with reduced function of CD4(+) CD25(+) regulatory T cells, which are critical for maintaining immune homeostasis. |
