[HTML][HTML] Maintenance DNA methylation is essential for regulatory T cell development and stability of suppressive function

KA Helmin, L Morales-Nebreda… - The Journal of …, 2020 - Am Soc Clin Investig
KA Helmin, L Morales-Nebreda, MAT Acosta, KR Anekalla, SY Chen, H Abdala-Valencia…
The Journal of clinical investigation, 2020Am Soc Clin Investig
Tregs require Foxp3 expression and induction of a specific DNA hypomethylation signature
during development, after which Tregs persist as a self-renewing population that regulates
immune system activation. Whether maintenance DNA methylation is required for Treg
lineage development and stability and how methylation patterns are maintained during
lineage self-renewal remain unclear. Here, we demonstrate that the epigenetic regulator
ubiquitin-like with plant homeodomain and RING finger domains 1 (Uhrf1) is essential for …
Tregs require Foxp3 expression and induction of a specific DNA hypomethylation signature during development, after which Tregs persist as a self-renewing population that regulates immune system activation. Whether maintenance DNA methylation is required for Treg lineage development and stability and how methylation patterns are maintained during lineage self-renewal remain unclear. Here, we demonstrate that the epigenetic regulator ubiquitin-like with plant homeodomain and RING finger domains 1 (Uhrf1) is essential for maintenance of methyl-DNA marks that stabilize Treg cellular identity by repressing effector T cell transcriptional programs. Constitutive and induced deficiency of Uhrf1 within Foxp3+ cells resulted in global yet nonuniform loss of DNA methylation, derepression of inflammatory transcriptional programs, destabilization of the Treg lineage, and spontaneous inflammation. These findings support a paradigm in which maintenance DNA methylation is required in distinct regions of the Treg genome for both lineage establishment and stability of identity and suppressive function.
The Journal of Clinical Investigation