Identifying Trajectories of Maltreatment Revictimization and Juvenile Justice Outcome: A Latent Class Analysis of Subtype, Timing, and Chronicity.

Continued exposure to abuse or neglect is a strong predictor for immediate and long-term negative developmental outcomes including developmental delays, disabilities, poor school performance, criminal behavior, and mental health issues. The purpose of this study was to identify distinct subgroups of children with repeat victimization based on maltreatment timing, subtype, and chronicity and to examine how the unique subgroups are related to youth's juvenile justice outcome. Using data from Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect, this study included 286 children (47% males, 41% blacks) with more than one report for substantiated maltreatment from birth to age 17. Latent class analysis was employed to identify heterogeneity in the patterns of maltreatment revictimization. Four latent classes emerged: (a) Prevailing Early Neglect (52.6%); (b) Co-occurring Maltreatments in Preschool Age (20.1%); (c) Incremental Neglect with Sexual Abuse in School Age (18.7%); and (d) Co-occurring Maltreatments in School Age (8.6%). Black children were overrepresented in Incremental Neglect with Sexual Abuse in School Age compared to white and other racial groups of children. Ordinal logistic regression analysis indicated that there was no significant difference in the juvenile justice outcome across four subgroups of children with revictimization. Our person-centered investigations of maltreatment subtype, timing, and chronicity highlight the need for precise assessment and prevention strategies based on a more nuanced understanding of various patterns of childhood maltreatment revictimization.

Skin γδ T cell inflammatory responses are hardwired in the thymus by oxysterol sensing via GPR183 and calibrated by dietary cholesterol.

Dietary components and metabolites have a profound impact on immunity and inflammation. Here, we investigated how sensing of cholesterol metabolite oxysterols by γδ T cells impacts their tissue residency and function. We show that dermal IL-17-producing γδ T (Tγδ17) cells essential for skin-barrier homeostasis require oxysterols sensing through G protein receptor 183 (GPR183) for their development and inflammatory responses. Single-cell transcriptomics and murine reporter strains revealed that GPR183 on developing γδ thymocytes is needed for their maturation by sensing medullary thymic epithelial-cell-derived oxysterols. In the skin, basal keratinocytes expressing the oxysterol enzyme cholesterol 25-hydroxylase (CH25H) maintain dermal Tγδ17 cells. Diet-driven increases in oxysterols exacerbate Tγδ17-cell-mediated psoriatic inflammation, dependent on GPR183 on γδ T cells. Hence, cholesterol-derived oxysterols control spatially distinct but biologically linked processes of thymic education and peripheral function of dermal T cells, implicating diet as a focal parameter of dermal Tγδ17 cells.

Neonatal-derived IL-17 producing dermal γδ T cells are required to prevent spontaneous atopic dermatitis.

Atopic Dermatitis (AD) is a T cell-mediated chronic skin disease and is associated with altered skin barrier integrity. Infants with mutations in genes involved in tissue barrier fitness are predisposed towards inflammatory diseases, but most do not develop or sustain the diseases, suggesting that there exist regulatory immune mechanisms to prevent aberrant inflammation. The absence of one single murine dermal cell type, the innate neonatal-derived IL-17 producing γδ T (Tγδ17) cells, from birth resulted in spontaneous, highly penetrant AD with many of the major hallmarks of human AD. In Tγδ17 cell-deficient mice, basal keratinocyte transcriptome was altered months in advance of AD induction. Tγδ17 cells respond to skin commensal bacteria and the fulminant disease in their absence was driven by skin commensal bacteria dysbiosis. AD in this model was characterized by highly expanded dermal αß T clonotypes that produce the type three cytokines, IL-17 and IL-22. These results demonstrate that neonatal Tγδ17 cells are innate skin regulatory T cells that are critical for skin homeostasis, and that IL-17 has dual homeostatic and inflammatory function in the skin.

Interleukin-17-Producing γδ T Cells Originate from SOX13+ Progenitors that Are Independent of γδTCR Signaling.

Lineage-committed αß and γδ T cells are thought to originate from common intrathymic multipotent progenitors following instructive T cell receptor (TCR) signals. A subset of lymph node and mucosal Vγ2+ γδ T cells is programmed intrathymically to produce IL-17 (Tγδ17 cells), however the role of the γδTCR in development of these cells remains controversial. Here we generated reporter mice for the Tγδ17 lineage-defining transcription factor SOX13 and identified fetal-origin, intrathymic Sox13+ progenitors. In organ culture developmental assays, Tγδ17 cells derived primarily from Sox13+ progenitors, and not from other known lymphoid progenitors. Single cell transcriptome assays of the progenitors found in TCR-deficient mice demonstrated that Tγδ17 lineage programming was independent of γδTCR. Instead, generation of the lineage committed progenitors and Tγδ17 cells was controlled by TCF1 and SOX13. Thus, T lymphocyte lineage fate can be prewired cell-intrinsically and is not necessarily specified by clonal antigen receptor signals.

SOX4 controls invariant NKT cell differentiation by tuning TCR signaling.

Natural killer T (NKT) cells expressing the invariant T cell receptor (iTCR) serve an essential function in clearance of certain pathogens and have been implicated in autoimmune and allergic diseases. Complex effector programs of these iNKT cells are wired in the thymus, and upon thymic egress, they can respond within hours of antigenic challenges, classifying iNKT cells as innate-like. It has been assumed that the successful rearrangement of the invariant iTCRα chain is the central event in the divergence of immature thymocytes to the NKT cell lineage, but molecular properties that render the iTCR signaling distinct to permit the T cell lineage diversification remain obscure. Here we show that the High Mobility Group (HMG) transcription factor (TF) SOX4 controls the production of iNKT cells by inducing MicroRNA-181 (Mir181) to enhance TCR signaling and Ca2+ fluxes in precursors. These results suggest the existence of tailored, permissive gene circuits in iNKT precursors for innate-like T cell development.

CD28 and ITK signals regulate autoreactive T cell trafficking.

Activation of self-reactive T cells and their trafficking to target tissues leads to autoimmune organ destruction. Mice lacking the co-inhibitory receptor cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4) develop fatal autoimmunity characterized by lymphocytic infiltration into nonlymphoid tissues. Here, we demonstrate that the CD28 co-stimulatory pathway regulates the trafficking of self-reactive Ctla4(-/-) T cells to tissues. Concurrent ablation of the CD28-activated Tec family kinase ITK does not block spontaneous T cell activation but instead causes self-reactive Ctla4(-/-) T cells to accumulate in secondary lymphoid organs. Despite excessive spontaneous T cell activation and proliferation in lymphoid organs, Itk(-/-); Ctla4(-/-) mice are otherwise healthy, mount antiviral immune responses and exhibit a long lifespan. We propose that ITK specifically licenses autoreactive T cells to enter tissues to mount destructive immune responses. Notably, ITK inhibitors mimic the null mutant phenotype and also prevent pancreatic islet infiltration by diabetogenic T cells in mouse models of type 1 diabetes, highlighting their potential utility for the treatment of human autoimmune disorders.