Journal
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY
Volume 40, Issue 9, Pages 2450-2459Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/eji.201040461
Keywords
Aryl hydrocarbon receptor; Dioxin; IL-17; IL-22; T cells
Categories
Funding
- Swiss National Science Foundation [31003A_124941/1]
- Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) [31003A_124941] Funding Source: Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF)
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Ligands of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), a transcription factor mediating the effects of dioxin, favor Th17 differentiation and exacerbate autoimmunity in mice. We investigated how AHR ligands affected human T-cell polarization. We found that the high affinity and stable AHR-ligand dioxin as well as the natural AHR-ligand 6-formylinolo[3,2-b] carbazole induced the downstream AHR-target cytochrome P450A1, and without affecting IFN-gamma, they enhanced IL-22 while simultaneously decreasing IL-17A production by CD4(+) T cells. The specific AHR-inhibitor CH-223191 abolished these effects. Furthermore, blockade of IL-23 and IL-1, important for Th17 expansion, profoundly decreased IL-17A but not IL-22 production. AHR agonists reduced the expression of the Th17 master transcription factor retinoic acid-related orphan receptor C (RORC), without affecting T-bet, GATA-3 and Foxp3. They also decreased the expression of the IL-23 receptor. Importantly, AHR-ligation did not only decrease the number of Th17 cells but also primed naive CD4(+) T cells to produce IL-22 without IL-17 and IFN-gamma. Furthermore, IL-22 single producers did not express CD161, which distinguished them from the CD161(+) Th17 cells. Hence, our data provide compelling evidence that AHR activation participates in shaping human CD4(+) T-cell polarization favoring the emergence of a distinct subset of IL-22-producing cells that are independent from the Th17 lineage.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available