[HTML][HTML] TSC1 regulates the balance between effector and regulatory T cells

Y Park, HS Jin, J Lopez, C Elly, G Kim… - The Journal of …, 2013 - Am Soc Clin Investig
Y Park, HS Jin, J Lopez, C Elly, G Kim, M Murai, M Kronenberg, YC Liu
The Journal of clinical investigation, 2013Am Soc Clin Investig
Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) plays a crucial role in the control of T cell fate
determination; however, the precise regulatory mechanism of the mTOR pathway is not fully
understood. We found that T cell–specific deletion of the gene encoding tuberous sclerosis 1
(TSC1), an upstream negative regulator of mTOR, resulted in augmented Th1 and Th17
differentiation and led to severe intestinal inflammation in a colitis model. Conditional Tsc1
deletion in Tregs impaired their suppressive activity and expression of the Treg marker …
Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) plays a crucial role in the control of T cell fate determination; however, the precise regulatory mechanism of the mTOR pathway is not fully understood. We found that T cell–specific deletion of the gene encoding tuberous sclerosis 1 (TSC1), an upstream negative regulator of mTOR, resulted in augmented Th1 and Th17 differentiation and led to severe intestinal inflammation in a colitis model. Conditional Tsc1 deletion in Tregs impaired their suppressive activity and expression of the Treg marker Foxp3 and resulted in increased IL-17 production under inflammatory conditions. A fate-mapping study revealed that Tsc1-null Tregs that lost Foxp3 expression gained a stronger effector-like phenotype compared with Tsc1–/– Foxp3+ Tregs. Elevated IL-17 production in Tsc1–/– Treg cells was reversed by in vivo knockdown of the mTOR target S6K1. Moreover, IL-17 production was enhanced by Treg-specific double deletion of Tsc1 and Foxo3a. Collectively, these studies suggest that TSC1 acts as an important checkpoint for maintaining immune homeostasis by regulating cell fate determination.
The Journal of Clinical Investigation