| First Author | Kekäläinen E | Year | 2015 |
| Journal | Scand J Immunol | Volume | 81 |
| Issue | 5 | Pages | 298-304 |
| PubMed ID | 25689230 | Mgi Jnum | J:333252 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:6783053 | Doi | 10.1111/sji.12280 |
| Citation | Kekalainen E, et al. (2015) Autoimmunity, Not a Developmental Defect, is the Cause for Subfertility of Autoimmune Regulator (Aire) Deficient Mice. Scand J Immunol 81(5):298-304 |
| abstractText | Autoimmune regulator's (AIRE) best characterized role is in the generation immunological tolerance, but it is also involved in many other processes such as spermatogenesis. Loss-of-function mutations in AIRE cause a disease called autoimmune polyendocrinopathy, candidiasis and ectodermal dystrophy (APECED; also called autoimmune polyendocrinopathy syndrome type 1, APS-1) that is dominated by various autoimmune manifestations, mainly endocrinopathies. Both patients with APECED and Aire(-/-) mice suffer from varying levels of infertility, but it is not clear if it is a result of an autoimmune tissue damage or more of a developmental defect. In this study, we wanted to resolve whether or not the reduced fertility of Aire(-/-) mice is dependent on the adaptive immune system and therefore a manifestation of autoimmunity in these mice. We generated lymphopenic mice without Aire expression that were devoid of the autoimmune manifestations previously reported in immunocompetent Aire(-/-) mice. These Aire(-/-) Rag1(-/-) mice regained full fertility. This confirms that the development of infertility in Aire(-/-) mice requires a functional adaptive immune system. We also show that only the male Aire(-/-) mice are subfertile, whereas Aire(-/-) females produce litters normally. Moreover, the male subfertility can be adoptively transferred with lymphocytes from Aire(-/-) donor mice to previously fertile lymphopenic Aire(-/-) recipients. Our data show that subfertility in Aire(-/-) mice is dependent on a functional adaptive immune system thus confirming its autoimmune aetiology. |
