Journal
JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY
Volume 190, Issue 10, Pages 4971-4981Publisher
AMER ASSOC IMMUNOLOGISTS
DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.1202625
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Funding
- National Institutes of Health [R01-EY021996, R01-EY016376, P30-EY011374]
- Research to Prevent Blindness
- Minnesota Lions Clubs
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Extrathymically derived regulatory T cells (iTregs) protect against autoimmunity to tissue-specific Ags. However, whether Ag-specific iTreg generation and function is limited to secondary lymphoid tissue or whether it can occur within the tissue-specific local environment of the cognate Ag remains unresolved. Mice expressing beta-galactosidase (beta gal) on a retina-specific promoter (bgal mice) in conjunction with mice expressing GFP and diphtheria toxin (DTx) receptor (DTR) under control of the Foxp3 promoter, and beta gal-specific TCR transgenic (BG2) mice were used to examine this question. Local depletion (ocular DTx), but not systemic depletion (i.p. DTx), of beta gal-specific iTregs enhanced experimental autoimmune uveoretinitis induced by activated beta gal-specific effector T cells. Injections of small amounts of bgal into the anterior chamber of the eye produced similar numbers of beta gal-specific iTregs in the retina whether the mouse was depleted of pre-existing, circulating Tregs. Taken together, these results suggest that protection from tissue-specific autoimmunity depends on the function of local Ag-specific iTregs and that the retina is capable of local, on-demand iTreg generation that is independent of circulating Tregs.
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