The transcription factor musculin promotes the unidirectional development of peripheral Treg cells by suppressing the TH2 transcriptional program.

Although master transcription factors (TFs) are key to the development of specific T cell subsets, whether additional transcriptional regulators are induced by the same stimuli that dominantly repress the development of other, non-specific T cell lineages has not been fully elucidated. Through the use of regulatory T cells (Treg cells) induced by transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), we identified the TF musculin (MSC) as being critical for the development of induced Treg cells (iTreg cells) by repression of the T helper type 2 (TH2) transcriptional program. Loss of MSC reduced expression of the Treg cell master TF Foxp3 and induced TH2 differentiation even under iTreg-cell-differentiation conditions. MSC interrupted binding of the TF GATA-3 to the locus encoding TH2-cell-related cytokines and diminished intrachromosomal interactions within that locus. MSC-deficient (Msc-/-) iTreg cells were unable to suppress TH2 responses, and Msc-/- mice spontaneously developed gut and lung inflammation with age. MSC therefore enforced Foxp3 expression and promoted the unidirectional induction of iTreg cells by repressing the TH2 developmental program.

Citation

Chuan Wu, Zuojia Chen, Valerie Dardalhon, Sheng Xiao, Theresa Thalhamer, Mengyang Liao, Asaf Madi, Rafael F Franca, Timothy Han, Mohammed Oukka, Vijay Kuchroo. The transcription factor musculin promotes the unidirectional development of peripheral Treg cells by suppressing the TH2 transcriptional program. Nature immunology. 2017 Mar;18(3):344-353

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PMID: 28114290

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