Go to JCI Insight
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Journal stats
  • Publication ethics
  • Publication alerts by email
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
  • Clinical Research and Public Health
  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • By specialty
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Gastroenterology
    • Immunology
    • Metabolism
    • Nephrology
    • Neuroscience
    • Oncology
    • Pulmonology
    • Vascular biology
    • All ...
  • Videos
    • ASCI Milestone Awards
    • Video Abstracts
    • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
  • Reviews
    • View all reviews ...
    • The cGAS-STING pathway: DNA sensing in health and disease (Jun 2026)
    • Neurodegeneration (Mar 2026)
    • Clinical innovation and scientific progress in GLP-1 medicine (Nov 2025)
    • Pancreatic Cancer (Jul 2025)
    • Complement Biology and Therapeutics (May 2025)
    • Evolving insights into MASLD and MASH pathogenesis and treatment (Apr 2025)
    • Microbiome in Health and Disease (Feb 2025)
    • View all review series ...
  • Viewpoint
  • Collections
    • In-Press Preview
    • Clinical Research and Public Health
    • Research Letters
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Editorials
    • Commentaries
    • Editor's notes
    • Reviews
    • Viewpoints
    • 100th anniversary
    • Top read articles

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Specialties
  • Reviews
  • Review series
  • ASCI Milestone Awards
  • Video Abstracts
  • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
  • In-Press Preview
  • Clinical Research and Public Health
  • Research Letters
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Editorials
  • Commentaries
  • Editor's notes
  • Reviews
  • Viewpoints
  • 100th anniversary
  • Top read articles
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Journal stats
  • Publication ethics
  • Publication alerts by email
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
Selective Treg reconstitution during lymphopenia normalizes DC costimulation and prevents graft-versus-host disease
Holly A. Bolton, Erhua Zhu, Alexandra M. Terry, Thomas V. Guy, Woon-Puay Koh, Sioh-Yang Tan, Carl A. Power, Patrick Bertolino, Katharina Lahl, Tim Sparwasser, Elena Shklovskaya, Barbara Fazekas de St. Groth
Holly A. Bolton, Erhua Zhu, Alexandra M. Terry, Thomas V. Guy, Woon-Puay Koh, Sioh-Yang Tan, Carl A. Power, Patrick Bertolino, Katharina Lahl, Tim Sparwasser, Elena Shklovskaya, Barbara Fazekas de St. Groth
View: Text | PDF
Research Article Immunology

Selective Treg reconstitution during lymphopenia normalizes DC costimulation and prevents graft-versus-host disease

  • Text
  • PDF
Abstract

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) have been shown to enhance immune reconstitution and prevent graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation; however, it is unclear how Tregs mediate these effects. Here, we developed a model to examine the mechanism of Treg-dependent regulation of immune reconstitution. Lymphopenic mice were selectively reconstituted with Tregs prior to transfer of conventional CD4+ T cells. Full Treg reconstitution prevented the rapid oligoclonal proliferation that gives rise to pathogenic CD4 effector T cells, while preserving the slow homeostatic form of lymphopenia-induced peripheral expansion that repopulates a diverse peripheral T cell pool. Treg-mediated CTLA-4–dependent downregulation of CD80/CD86 on DCs was critical for inhibition of rapid proliferation and was a function of the Treg/DC ratio achieved by reconstitution. In an allogeneic BM transplant model, selective Treg reconstitution before T cell transfer also normalized DC costimulation and provided complete protection against GVHD. In contrast, cotransfer of Tregs was not protective. Our results indicate that achieving optimal recovery from lymphopenia should aim to improve early Treg reconstitution in order to increase the relative number of Tregs to DCs and thereby inhibit spontaneous oligoclonal T cell proliferation.

Authors

Holly A. Bolton, Erhua Zhu, Alexandra M. Terry, Thomas V. Guy, Woon-Puay Koh, Sioh-Yang Tan, Carl A. Power, Patrick Bertolino, Katharina Lahl, Tim Sparwasser, Elena Shklovskaya, Barbara Fazekas de St. Groth

×

Figure 4

Effect of CTLA-4 expression by Tregs on modulation of CD80/CD86 and inhibition of fast-phase LIP.

Options: View larger image (or click on image) Download as PowerPoint
Effect of CTLA-4 expression by Tregs on modulation of CD80/CD86 and inhi...
Rag–/– hosts were reconstituted with flow-sorted WT or Ctla-4–/– Tregs. Ctla-4–/– and WT Tregs were purified from mixed BM chimeras generated with an 80:20 ratio of Ctla-4–/–/WT BM. Fully reconstituted chimeras (>3 months after irradiation) were treated with IL-2/JES6-1 at –5, –4, and –3 days to expand Treg numbers before harvest at day 0. Treg reconstitution was performed as described in Figure 1. (A) MFI of CD80 (left) and CD86 (right) on migratory DCs from pLN (n = 4 per group). Bars represent mean ± SEM with individual values indicated by the open circles. Data are from 1 of 2 independent experiments. (B) 1 × 106 CFSE-labeled WT polyclonal CD4+ T cells were transferred into Rag–/– mice, either unreconstituted or reconstituted with WT or CTLA-4–deficient Tregs (n = 3 per group). All groups were treated with second daily IL-2/JES6-1 throughout the course of the experiment. One group of Rag–/– mice reconstituted with WT Tregs received water supplemented with 5 mg/ml 1-MT from 3 days before CFSE-labeled cell transfer until organ harvest. Shown are representative CFSE division profiles from the pLN and spleen at day 7 after transfer. (C) The ratio of fully divided CFSE– T cells (>7 divisions) to CFSE+ T cells (0–3 divisions) within adoptively transferred CD4+ T cells was calculated for pLN and spleen, and summarized for all LIP experiments performed, totaling 6 independent experiments for Rag–/– and WT Treg groups, 3 experiments with Ctla-4–/– Tregs, and 2 experiments for 1-MT treatment (n = 6–19 per group). Statistical analysis was performed using one-way ANOVA with a Newman-Keuls post-test. **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, ****P < 0.0001.

Copyright © 2026 American Society for Clinical Investigation
ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)

Sign up for email alerts