First Author | Murga M | Year | 2001 |
Journal | Immunity | Volume | 15 |
Issue | 6 | Pages | 959-70 |
PubMed ID | 11754817 | Mgi Jnum | J:76318 |
Mgi Id | MGI:2179125 | Doi | 10.1016/s1074-7613(01)00254-0 |
Citation | Murga M, et al. (2001) Mutation of E2F2 in mice causes enhanced T lymphocyte proliferation, leading to the development of autoimmunity. Immunity 15(6):959-70 |
abstractText | E2Fs are important regulators of proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. Here we characterize the phenotype of mice deficient in E2F2. We show that E2F2 is required for immunologic self-tolerance. E2F2(-/-) mice develop late-onset autoimmune features, characterized by widespread inflammatory infiltrates, glomerular immunocomplex deposition, and anti-nuclear antibodies. E2F2-deficient T lymphocytes exhibit enhanced TCR-stimulated proliferation and a lower activation threshold, leading to the accumulation of a population of autoreactive effector/memory T lymphocytes, which appear to be responsible for causing autoimmunity in E2F2-deficient mice. Finally, we provide support for a model to explain E2F2's unexpected role as a suppressor of T lymphocyte proliferation. Rather than functioning as a transcriptional activator, E2F2 appears to function as a transcriptional repressor of genes required for normal S phase entry, particularly E2F1. |