4-1BB Triggering Ameliorates Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis by Modulating the Balance between Th17 and Regulatory T Cells

Agonistic anti-4-1BB Ab is known to ameliorate experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. 4-1BB triggering typically leads to the expansion of CD8(+) T cells, which produce abundant IFN-gamma, and this in turn results in IDO-dependent suppression of autoimmune responses. However, because neutralization of IFN-gamma or depletion of CD8(+) T cell only partially abrogates the effect of 4-1BB triggering, we sought to identify an additional mechanism of 4-1BB-triggered suppression of autoimmune responses using IFN-gamma-or IFN-gamma R-deficient mice. 4-1BB triggering inhibited the generation of Th17 cells that is responsible for experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis induction and progression, and increased Foxp3(+)CD4(+) regulatory T (Treg) cells, particularly among CD4(+) T cells. This was not due to a direct effect of 4-1BB signaling on CD4(+) T cell differentiation: 4-1BB signaling not only reduced Th17 cells and increased Treg cells in wild-type mice, which could be due to IFN-g production by the CD8(+) T cells, but also did so in IFN-gamma-deficient mice, in that case by downregulating IL-6 production. These results show that although secondary suppressive mechanisms evoked by 4-1BB triggering are usually masked by the strong effects of IFN-gamma, 4-1BB signaling seems to modulate autoimmune responses by a number of mechanisms, and modulation of the Th17 versus Treg cell balance is one of those mechanisms. The Journal of Immunology, 2011, 187: 1120-1128.