Genome wide association (GWA) scans have allowed an assessment of disease pathways in patients with MS and Tl D based on the unbiased identification of gene variants. We will investigate these allelic variants and their pathways that are both common (CD226/TIGIT) and unique (CTLA4-T1D and CD6-MS) to these diseases. The central role of Thi7 and regulatory T cells in MS has recently been elucidated, and as part of this PPG we demonstrated a loss of regulatory T cell function in MS. We also discovered that increasing the strength of signal through the TCR influences the plasticity of CD4+CD25high Tregs to become Thi7 cells. These data have led to the underlying hypothesis that allelic variants in multiple costimulatory pathways lead to a shift from regulatory to inflammatory T cell function. We will explore the costimulatory pathways identified from GWA scans in relationship to Treg and Thi7 function, investigating the CTLA-4/CD28, CD226/TIGIT, and CD6 pathways. Specifically, we will determine: 1) the role of sCTLA4 in the function and plasticity of human Treg populations in close collaboration with Wicker/Todd;2) how CD6 MS-risk alleles that induce splice variants alter the CD6 costimulatory pathway, investigating the hypothesis that alterations in the CD6 isoforms affect binding to its ligand results in changes influencing the function of Tri and Tregs in patients with MS;and 3) how the CD226/TIGIT costimulatory pathway modulate Treg and Thi 7 function in human autoimmune disease. Our preliminary data demonstrate a lack of TIGIT expression on Thi7 cells while blocking CD226 corrects defects in Treg function in MS leading us to hypothesize that allelic variants in the CD226/TIGIT pathways influence Th17 and Treg function. We will directly examine whether defects in Treg suppression in MS and hyperactivation of monocytes in patients with T1D are corrected by promoting TIGIT signaling. In summary, it is clear that genetic risk to develop autoimmune disease is due to many common and rare allelic variants each with a small effect that together lead to organ specific inflammation in response to undefined environmental challenges. We will apply new tools to examine how genetic variants lead to the heightened immune responses observed in patients with autoimmune diseases.

Public Health Relevance

Understanding the underlying disease pathophysiology is key to developing new therapies before signficant tissue damage occurs. We have recently elucidated key co-stimulatory pathways by performing whole genome association scans in patients with MS and T1D. This grant is translating those genotypic findings to a fundamental understanding of immune phenotypes to identify pathways for future drug targeting.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Type
Research Program Projects (P01)
Project #
5P01AI039671-17
Application #
8378756
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZAI1-WFD-I)
Project Start
Project End
Budget Start
2012-07-01
Budget End
2013-06-30
Support Year
17
Fiscal Year
2012
Total Cost
$369,478
Indirect Cost
$41,097
Name
Yale University
Department
Type
DUNS #
043207562
City
New Haven
State
CT
Country
United States
Zip Code
06520
Ponath, Gerald; Lincoln, Matthew R; Levine-Ritterman, Maya et al. (2018) Enhanced astrocyte responses are driven by a genetic risk allele associated with multiple sclerosis. Nat Commun 9:5337
Sumida, Tomokazu; Lincoln, Matthew R; Ukeje, Chinonso M et al. (2018) Activated ?-catenin in Foxp3+ regulatory T cells links inflammatory environments to autoimmunity. Nat Immunol 19:1391-1402
Meyer Zu Horste, Gerd; Przybylski, Dariusz; Schramm, Markus A et al. (2018) Fas Promotes T Helper 17 Cell Differentiation and Inhibits T Helper 1 Cell Development by Binding and Sequestering Transcription Factor STAT1. Immunity 48:556-569.e7
Chihara, Norio; Madi, Asaf; Kondo, Takaaki et al. (2018) Induction and transcriptional regulation of the co-inhibitory gene module in T cells. Nature 558:454-459
Ordovas-Montanes, Jose; Dwyer, Daniel F; Nyquist, Sarah K et al. (2018) Allergic inflammatory memory in human respiratory epithelial progenitor cells. Nature 560:649-654
Mead, Benjamin E; Ordovas-Montanes, Jose; Braun, Alexandra P et al. (2018) Harnessing single-cell genomics to improve the physiological fidelity of organoid-derived cell types. BMC Biol 16:62
Wu, Chuan; Chen, Zuojia; Xiao, Sheng et al. (2018) SGK1 Governs the Reciprocal Development of Th17 and Regulatory T Cells. Cell Rep 22:653-665
Lucca, Liliana E; Hafler, David A (2017) Resisting fatal attraction: a glioma oncometabolite prevents CD8+ T cell recruitment. J Clin Invest 127:1218-1220
Joller, Nicole; Kuchroo, Vijay K (2017) Tim-3, Lag-3, and TIGIT. Curr Top Microbiol Immunol 410:127-156
Nylander, Alyssa N; Ponath, Gerald D; Axisa, Pierre-Paul et al. (2017) Podoplanin is a negative regulator of Th17 inflammation. JCI Insight 2:

Showing the most recent 10 out of 205 publications