TY - JOUR
T1 - Virus-Specific Regulatory T Cells Persist as Memory in a Neurotropic Coronavirus Infection
AU - Sariol, Alan
AU - Zhao, Jingxian
AU - Abrahante, Juan E.
AU - Perlman, Stanley
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2022 by The American Association of Immunologists, Inc. All rights reserved.
PY - 2022/4/15
Y1 - 2022/4/15
N2 - Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are critical for regulating immunopathogenic responses in a variety of infections, including infection of mice with JHM strain of mouse hepatitis virus (JHMV), a neurotropic coronavirus that causes immune-mediated demyelinating disease. Although virus-specific Tregs are known to mitigate disease in this infection by suppressing pathogenic effector T cell responses of the same specificity, it is unclear whether these virus-specific Tregs form memory populations and persist similar to their conventional T cell counterparts of the same epitope specificity. Using congenically labeled JHMV-specific Tregs, we found that virus-specific Tregs persist long-term after murine infection, through at least 180 d postinfection and stably maintain Foxp3 expression. We additionally demonstrate that these cells are better able to proliferate and inhibit virus-specific T cell responses postinfection than naive Tregs of the same specificity, further suggesting that these cells differentiate into memory Tregs upon encountering cognate Ag. Taken together, these data suggest that virus-specific Tregs are able to persist long-term in the absence of viral Ag as memory Tregs.
AB - Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are critical for regulating immunopathogenic responses in a variety of infections, including infection of mice with JHM strain of mouse hepatitis virus (JHMV), a neurotropic coronavirus that causes immune-mediated demyelinating disease. Although virus-specific Tregs are known to mitigate disease in this infection by suppressing pathogenic effector T cell responses of the same specificity, it is unclear whether these virus-specific Tregs form memory populations and persist similar to their conventional T cell counterparts of the same epitope specificity. Using congenically labeled JHMV-specific Tregs, we found that virus-specific Tregs persist long-term after murine infection, through at least 180 d postinfection and stably maintain Foxp3 expression. We additionally demonstrate that these cells are better able to proliferate and inhibit virus-specific T cell responses postinfection than naive Tregs of the same specificity, further suggesting that these cells differentiate into memory Tregs upon encountering cognate Ag. Taken together, these data suggest that virus-specific Tregs are able to persist long-term in the absence of viral Ag as memory Tregs.
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U2 - 10.4049/jimmunol.2100794
DO - 10.4049/jimmunol.2100794
M3 - Article
C2 - 35365567
AN - SCOPUS:85128488507
SN - 0022-1767
VL - 208
SP - 1989
EP - 1997
JO - Journal of Immunology
JF - Journal of Immunology
IS - 8
ER -