Characterization of Thymic Settling Progenitors in the Mouse Embryo Using <em>In Vivo</em> and <em>In Vitro</em> Assays

Characterizing thymic settling progenitors is important to understand the pre-thymic stages of T cell development, essential to devise strategies for T ...

University Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Cellule Pasteur, Institut Pasteur

Thymectomy at day 3 after birth leads to autoimmune disease in some genetic backgrounds. Disease is thought to be caused by the lack/paucity of regulatory T cells. We show that 3-day-old mice already contain a significant compartment of Foxp3-expressing CD25(+)CD4(+) splenocytes. Whereas, in adult spleen, the subsets of regulatory T cells (CD25(+) and/or CD103(+)) express high amounts of Foxp3 mRNA, in 3-day-old mice, both thymic and splenic CD25(+)CD4(+) T cell subsets express lower amounts of Foxp3 mRNA, and CD103(+) cells are barely detected. In adult day 3-thymectomized mice, the CD25(+)CD4(+) T cell subset is overrepresented (most of the cells being CD103(+)) and expresses high amounts of Foxp3 mRNA, independent of the development of autoimmune gastritis. These cells control inflammatory bowel disease and the homeostatic expansion of lymphocytes. This study demonstrates that the peripheral immune system of newborn mice is endowed of a remarkable regulatory potential, which develops considerably in the absence of thymic supply.

Regulatory potential and control of Foxp3 expression in newborn CD4+ T cells.

Mice lacking interleukin-7 (IL-7-/- mice) have no signs of autoimmune disease, contrary to other models of lymphopenia. We investigated whether the absence of disease was due to the fact that IL-7 is dispensable for the ontogeny, function, and homeostasis of regulatory CD4+ T cells. We show here that the establishment of the peripheral pool of Foxp3-expressing regulatory cells is IL-7 independent, and the premature involution of the thymus in IL-7-/- mice does not change the representation of the CD4+CD25+ T-cell compartment. In addition, CD4+CD25+ T cells expand in the absence of IL-7, without losing Foxp3 expression. The frequency of activated peripheral CD4+ T cells increases with age in both the CD25- and CD25+ compartments, with the CD4+CD25+ T cells displaying signs of constant activation. IL-7-/- CD4+CD25+ T cells control inflammatory bowel disease induced by IL-7-/- T cells even in hosts lacking IL-7. Depletion of the CD25+ T-cell subset after thymic involution results in a mild form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which resolves concomitantly with the regeneration of this subset. This study shows for the first time that IL-7-/- mice have a robust regulatory Foxp3-expressing CD4+ T-cell compartment that controls T-cell-mediated disease. It also highlights the potential of the regulatory Foxp3-expressing CD4+CD25- T-cell population to restore a functional CD4+CD25+ T-cell compartment through an IL-7-independent pathway.

Ontogeny, function, and peripheral homeostasis of regulatory T cells in the absence of interleukin-7.

Regulatory T cells (T reg cells) constitute a population of CD4(+) T cells that limits immune responses. The transcription factor Foxp3 is important for determining the development and function of T reg cells; however, the molecular mechanisms that trigger and maintain its expression remain incompletely understood. In this study, we show that mice deficient for the Ets-1 transcription factor (Ets-1(-/-)) developed T cell-mediated splenomegaly and systemic autoimmunity that can be blocked by functional wild-type T reg cells. Spleens of Ets-1(-/-) mice contained mostly activated T cells, including Th2-polarized CD4(+) cells and had reduced percentages of T reg cells. Splenic and thymic Ets-1(-/-) T reg cells expressed low levels of Foxp3 and displayed the CD103 marker that characterizes antigen-experienced T reg cells. Thymic development of Ets-1(-/-) T reg cells appeared intrinsically altered as Foxp3-expressing cells differentiate poorly in mixed fetal liver reconstituted chimera and fetal thymic organ culture. Ets-1(-/-) T reg cells showed decreased in vitro suppression activity and did not protect Rag2(-/-) hosts from naive T cell-induced inflammatory bowel disease. Furthermore, in T reg cells, Ets-1 interacted with the Foxp3 intronic enhancer and was required for demethylation of this regulatory sequence. These data demonstrate that Ets-1 is required for the development of natural T reg cells and suggest a role for this transcription factor in the regulation of Foxp3 expression.

The Ets-1 transcription factor controls the development and function of natural regulatory T cells.

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), which are defined by their capacity to reconstitute adult conventional mice, are first found in the dorsal aorta after 10.5 days post coitus (dpc) and in the fetal liver at 11 dpc. However, lympho-myeloid hematopoietic progenitors are detected in the dorsal aorta from 9 dpc, raising the issue of their role in establishing adult hematopoiesis. Here, we show that these progenitors are endowed with long-term reconstitution capacity, but only engraft natural killer (NK)-deficient Rag2γc(-/-) mice. This novel population, called here immature HSCs, evolves in culture with thrombopoietin and stromal cells, into HSCs, defined by acquisition of CD45 and MHC-1 expression and by the capacity to reconstitute NK-competent mice. This evolution occurs during ontogeny, as early colonization of fetal liver by immature HSCs precedes that of HSCs. Moreover, organ culture experiments show that immature HSCs acquire, in this environment, the features of HSCs.

Immature hematopoietic stem cells undergo maturation in the fetal liver.

Extrathymically induced Foxp3⁺ regulatory T (Treg) cells contribute to the pool of Treg cells and are implicated in the maintenance of immune tolerance at environmental interfaces. The impact of T-cell senescence on their generation and function is, however, poorly characterized. We report here that steady-state induction of Foxp3 is impaired in aged T cells in vivo. In vitro assays further revealed that this defective generation of Treg cells was independent from the strength of TCR stimulation and arose before T-cell proliferation. Importantly, they also revealed that this impairment of Foxp3 induction is unrelated to known age-related T-cell defects, such as IL-2 secretion impairment, accumulation of activated T-cell populations, or narrowing of the T-cell repertoire. Finally, a loss of extrathymic induction of Foxp3 and tolerance to minor-mismatched skin graft were observed in aged mice treated by nondepleting anti-CD4 antibody. The T-cell intrinsic impairment of Treg-cell generation revealed here highlights age as a key factor to be considered in immune tolerance induction.

Extrathymic induction of Foxp3⁺ regulatory T cells declines with age in a T-cell intrinsic manner.

A large fraction of innate NKTγδ T cells uses TCRs composed of a semi-invariant Vδ6.3/6.4-Dδ2-Jδ1 chain together with more diverse Vγ1-Jγ4 chains. To address the role of γδTCR specificity in their generation, we analyzed their development in mice transgenic (Tg) for a Vγ1-Jγ4 chain frequently expressed by NKTγδ cells (Tg-γ) and in mice Tg for the same Vγ1-Jγ4 chain together with a Vδ6BDδ2Jδ1 chain not usually found among NKTγδ cells (Tg-γδ). Surprisingly, both promyelocytic leukemia zinc finger (PLZF)(+) and NK1.1(+) NKTγδ cells were found in the thymus of Tg-γδ albeit at lower numbers than in Tg-γ mice, and virtually all of them expressed the Tg TCR. However, the PLZF(+) subset, but not the NK1.1(+) subset, also expressed an endogenous Vδ6.3/6.4 chain, and its size was severely reduced in TCRδ(-/-) Tg-γδ mice. These results could suggest that the PLZF(+) and the NK1.1(+) subsets are developmentally unrelated. However, PLZF(+) and NK1.1(+) NKTγδ cells express identical Vδ6.3/6.4 chains, and NK1.1(+) cells can be obtained upon intrathymic injection of sorted PLZF(+) cells, thus indicating their developmental relationship. In fact, the NK1.1(+) γδ thymocytes present in Tg-γδ mice correspond to a small subset of NK1.1(+) γδ thymocytes in wild-type animals, which express a more diverse repertoire of TCRs and can be recognized by the expression of the CD62L Ag. Collectively, our data demonstrated that TCR specificity is essential for the development of most NKTγδ T cells and revealed a developmental heterogeneity in γδ T cells expressing the NK1.1 marker.

Critical role of TCR specificity in the development of Vγ1Vδ6.3+ innate NKTγδ cells.

The small intestine epithelium (SI-Ep) harbors millions of unconventional (γδ and CD4(-) CD8(-) NK1.1(-) TCRαβ) and conventional (CD8αβ and CD4) T cells, designated intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs). Here, we identified the circulating pool of SI-Ep-tropic T cells and studied their capacity to colonize the SI-Ep under steady-state conditions in SPF mice. Developmentally regulated levels of α4β7 endowed recent thymic emigrants (RTEs) of unconventional types with higher SI-Ep tropism than their conventional homologues. SI-Ep-tropic RTEs, which in all lineages emerged naive, homed to the SI-Ep, but this environment was inadequate to stimulate them to cycle. In contrast, conventional and, unexpectedly, unconventional T cells, particularly Vγ7(+) (hallmark of γδ IELs), previously stimulated to cycle in the gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT), proliferated in the SI-Ep. Cycling unconventional SI-Ep immigrants divided far more efficiently than their conventional homologues, thereby becoming predominant. This difference impacted on acquisition of high Granzyme B content, which required extensive proliferation. In conclusion, SI-Ep-tropic T cells follow a thymus-SI-Ep or a GALT-SI-Ep pathway, the latter generating highly competitive immigrants that are the sole precursors of cytotoxic IELs. These events occur continuously as part of the normal IEL dynamics.

Origin, trafficking, and intraepithelial fate of gut-tropic T cells.

Blood cell production relies on the coordinated activities of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and multipotent and lineage-restricted progenitors. Here, we identify Notchless (Nle) as a critical factor for HSC maintenance under both homeostatic and cytopenic conditions. Nle deficiency leads to a rapid and drastic exhaustion of HSCs and immature progenitors and failure to maintain quiescence in HSCs. In contrast, Nle is dispensable for cycling-restricted progenitors and differentiated cells. In yeast, Nle/Rsa4 is essential for ribosome biogenesis, and we show that its role in pre-60S subunit maturation has been conserved in the mouse. Despite its implication in this basal cellular process, Nle deletion affects ribosome biogenesis only in HSCs and immature progenitors. Ribosome biogenesis defects are accompanied by p53 activation, which causes their rapid exhaustion. Collectively, our findings establish an essential role for Nle in HSC and immature progenitor functions and uncover previously unsuspected differences in ribosome biogenesis that distinguish stem cells from restricted progenitor populations.

Notchless-dependent ribosome synthesis is required for the maintenance of adult hematopoietic stem cells.

The generation of T cells depends on the migration of hematopoietic progenitor cells to the thymus throughout life. The identity of the thymus-settling progenitor cells has been a matter of considerable debate. Here we found that thymopoiesis was initiated by a first wave of T cell lineage-restricted progenitor cells with limited capacity for population expansion but accelerated differentiation into mature T cells. They gave rise to αβ and γδ T cells that constituted Vγ3(+) dendritic epithelial T cells. Thymopoiesis was subsequently maintained by less-differentiated progenitor cells that retained the potential to develop into B cells and myeloid cells. In that second wave, which started before birth, progenitor cells had high proliferative capacity but delayed differentiation capacity and no longer gave rise to embryonic γδ T cells. Our work reconciles conflicting hypotheses on the nature of thymus-settling progenitor cells.

Two waves of distinct hematopoietic progenitor cells colonize the fetal thymus.

Neonatal thymectomy in BALB/c mice has been described as a model of gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma (GML). By using this experimental system, we screened, for the first time to our knowledge, Helicobacter pylori GML-associated strains for their capacity to promote disease. A cohort of BALB/c mice underwent thymectomy at day 3 after birth (d3Tx). Successful thymic ablation was evaluated by the degree of lymphopenia in blood samples collected at 4 weeks of age. d3Tx and non-thymectomized controls were infected with either GML strains (B38 or B47) or control strains (SS1 or TN2GF4). Gastric samples collected at 6, 12, and 18 months after infection were studied for bacteria content, and submitted to histological, immunochemical, molecular, and immunological analyses. Severe gastric inflammation was only observed in d3Tx mice. In these animals, the gastric lamina propria was infiltrated with lymphoid cells organized in follicles composed of B cells with few infiltrating T cells. PCR of D/J IgH gene segments proved the monoclonality of infiltrating B cells, which strongly correlated with the presence of lymphoepithelial lesions. B-cell infiltrates were particularly prominent in mice infected with the B47-GML strain. No pathological changes were detected in noninfected d3Tx mice. We identified new H. pylori isolates adapted to the mouse stomach with high potential of GML development, which is only revealed in hosts rendered lymphopenic by neonatal thymic ablation.

Odile Burlen-Defranoux

Unit for Lymphopoiesis,
Immunology Department,
INSERM U668,
Unit for Lymphopoiesis, Immunology Department, INSERM U668

University Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Cellule Pasteur, Institut Pasteur

Characterization of Thymic Settling Progenitors in the Mouse Embryo Using In Vivo and In Vitro Assays

Odile Burlen-Defranoux

.css-o250i3{font-size:18px;font-family:Open Sans,sans-serif;line-height:21.6px;}Unit for Lymphopoiesis,Immunology Department,INSERM U668,Unit for Lymphopoiesis, Immunology Department, INSERM U668

University Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Cellule Pasteur, Institut Pasteur

Characterization of Thymic Settling Progenitors in the Mouse Embryo Using In Vivo and In Vitro Assays

Unit for Lymphopoiesis,
Immunology Department,
INSERM U668,
Unit for Lymphopoiesis, Immunology Department, INSERM U668