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McDonald-Hyman C, Muller JT, Loschi M, Thangavelu G, Saha A, Kumari S, Reichenbach DK, Smith MJ, Zhang G, Koehn BH, Lin J, Mitchell JS, Fife BT, Panoskaltsis-Mortari A, Feser CJ, Kirchmeier AK, Osborn MJ, Hippen KL, Kelekar A, Serody JS, Turka LA, Munn DH, Chi H, Neubert TA, Dustin ML, Blazar BR. The vimentin intermediate filament network restrains regulatory T cell suppression of graft-versus-host disease. J Clin Invest 2018; 128:4604-4621. [PMID: 30106752 DOI: 10.1172/jci95713] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2017] [Accepted: 07/26/2018] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are critical for maintaining immune homeostasis. However, current Treg immunotherapies do not optimally treat inflammatory diseases in patients. Understanding the cellular processes that control Treg function may allow for the augmentation of therapeutic efficacy. In contrast to activated conventional T cells, in which protein kinase C-θ (PKC-θ) localizes to the contact point between T cells and antigen-presenting cells, in human and mouse Tregs, PKC-θ localizes to the opposite end of the cell in the distal pole complex (DPC). Here, using a phosphoproteomic screen, we identified the intermediate filament vimentin as a PKC-θ phospho target and show that vimentin forms a DPC superstructure on which PKC-θ accumulates. Treatment of mouse Tregs with either a clinically relevant PKC-θ inhibitor or vimentin siRNA disrupted vimentin and enhanced Treg metabolic and suppressive activity. Moreover, vimentin-disrupted mouse Tregs were significantly better than controls at suppressing alloreactive T cell priming in graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and GVHD lethality, using a complete MHC-mismatch mouse model of acute GVHD (C57BL/6 donor into BALB/c host). Interestingly, vimentin disruption augmented the suppressor function of PKC-θ-deficient mouse Tregs. This suggests that enhanced Treg activity after PKC-θ inhibition is secondary to effects on vimentin, not just PKC-θ kinase activity inhibition. Our data demonstrate that vimentin is a key metabolic and functional controller of Treg activity and provide proof of principle that disruption of vimentin is a feasible, translationally relevant method to enhance Treg potency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cameron McDonald-Hyman
- Division of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Department of Pediatrics, Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.,The Center for Immunology, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - James T Muller
- Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine, and Department of Cell Biology, NYU School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA
| | - Michael Loschi
- Division of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Department of Pediatrics, Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.,The Center for Immunology, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Govindarajan Thangavelu
- Division of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Department of Pediatrics, Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.,The Center for Immunology, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Asim Saha
- Division of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Department of Pediatrics, Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.,The Center for Immunology, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Sudha Kumari
- Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine, and Department of Cell Biology, NYU School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA
| | - Dawn K Reichenbach
- Division of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Department of Pediatrics, Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.,The Center for Immunology, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Michelle J Smith
- Division of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Department of Pediatrics, Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.,The Center for Immunology, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Guoan Zhang
- Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine, and Department of Cell Biology, NYU School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA
| | - Brent H Koehn
- Division of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Department of Pediatrics, Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.,The Center for Immunology, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Jiqiang Lin
- Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine, and Department of Cell Biology, NYU School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA
| | - Jason S Mitchell
- The Center for Immunology, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.,Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Brian T Fife
- The Center for Immunology, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.,Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Angela Panoskaltsis-Mortari
- Division of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Department of Pediatrics, Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Colby J Feser
- Division of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Department of Pediatrics, Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Andrew Kemal Kirchmeier
- Division of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Department of Pediatrics, Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Mark J Osborn
- Division of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Department of Pediatrics, Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Keli L Hippen
- Division of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Department of Pediatrics, Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Ameeta Kelekar
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Jonathan S Serody
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Division of Hematology/Oncology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Laurence A Turka
- Center for Transplantation Sciences, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - David H Munn
- Department of Pediatrics, Georgia Health Sciences University, Augusta, Georgia, USA
| | - Hongbo Chi
- Department of Immunology, Saint Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, USA
| | - Thomas A Neubert
- Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine, and Department of Cell Biology, NYU School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA
| | - Michael L Dustin
- Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Bruce R Blazar
- Division of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Department of Pediatrics, Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.,The Center for Immunology, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
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