The action of CD4+CD25 + T regulatory (Treg) cells represents a major mechanism to inhibit self-reactivity by suppressing autoreactive mature peripheral T cells that have escaped thymic negative selection. In spite of the ready ability to demonstrate this immunological phenomenon, comparatively little is known concerning the factors controlling Treg cell development, specificity, homeostasis, and function. Recently, our laboratory established one important principle concerning Treg cells, namely that IL-2 is essential for their development. Importantly, we showed that the adoptive transfer of CD4+CD25+Treg cells prevented the onset of the rapid and lethal autoimmune disease in IL-2Rbeta -/- mice that was accompanied by substantial expansion, followed by long-term stable engraftment, using syngeneic or fully allogeneic donor Treg cells. This result makes plain that Treg cells have considerable growth potential in vivo. Therefore, one major objective of this project is to define the mechanism responsible for the proliferation and homoeostasis of Treg cells. The efficacy of allogeneic Tregs cells to prevent autoimmunity is of considerable practical value in developing strategies to utilize Treg cells in adoptive immunotherapy. Furthermore, as will be shown in the Preliminary Data, many Treg cells are specific for allogeneic MHC, as these cells have been selected to expand and survive in MHC-mismatched recipient mice. In principle, therefore, the TCR specificity is defined for these T reg cells, i.e. alloreactive to MHC class II. Thus, along with characterizing the immunosuppressive properties of allogeneic Tregs cells, the other major objective of this proposal is to utilize this and other model systems to investigate the specificity and diversity of the TCR as it relates to Treg cell homeostasis and suppressive activity.
The specific aims are: 1) To further define the basis by which allogeneic CD4+CD25vTreg cells prevent autoimmunity in IL-2Rbeta-/- mice; 2) to characterize the growth and survival characteristics of CD4+CD25+Treg cells in vivo; and 3) to test the effect of limiting the diversity of the TCR repertoire on the development and function of Treg cells.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01AI055815-05
Application #
7414056
Study Section
Immunological Sciences Study Section (IMS)
Program Officer
Rothermel, Annette L
Project Start
2004-05-01
Project End
2010-04-30
Budget Start
2008-05-01
Budget End
2010-04-30
Support Year
5
Fiscal Year
2008
Total Cost
$317,071
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Miami School of Medicine
Department
Microbiology/Immun/Virology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
052780918
City
Coral Gables
State
FL
Country
United States
Zip Code
33146
Toomer, Kevin H; Malek, Thomas R (2018) Cytokine Signaling in the Development and Homeostasis of Regulatory T cells. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol 10:
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Toomer, Kevin H; Yuan, Xiaomei; Yang, Jing et al. (2016) Developmental Progression and Interrelationship of Central and Effector Regulatory T Cell Subsets. J Immunol 196:3665-76
Dwyer, Connor J; Ward, Natasha C; Pugliese, Alberto et al. (2016) Promoting Immune Regulation in Type 1 Diabetes Using Low-Dose Interleukin-2. Curr Diab Rep 16:46
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Yuan, Xiaomei; Cheng, Guoyan; Malek, Thomas R (2014) The importance of regulatory T-cell heterogeneity in maintaining self-tolerance. Immunol Rev 259:103-14
Newman, Robert G; Dee, Michael J; Malek, Thomas R et al. (2014) Heat shock protein vaccination and directed IL-2 therapy amplify tumor immunity rapidly following bone marrow transplantation in mice. Blood 123:3045-55
Bayer, Allison L; Pugliese, Alberto; Malek, Thomas R (2013) The IL-2/IL-2R system: from basic science to therapeutic applications to enhance immune regulation. Immunol Res 57:197-209
Cheng, Guoyan; Yu, Aixin; Dee, Michael J et al. (2013) IL-2R signaling is essential for functional maturation of regulatory T cells during thymic development. J Immunol 190:1567-75
Cheng, Guoyan; Yuan, Xiaomei; Tsai, Matthew S et al. (2012) IL-2 receptor signaling is essential for the development of Klrg1+ terminally differentiated T regulatory cells. J Immunol 189:1780-91

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