A Pathogenic Th17/CD38+ Macrophage Feedback Loop Drives Inflammatory Arthritis through TNF-α.

The pathobiology of rheumatoid inflammatory diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and psoriatic arthritis, involves the interplay between innate and adaptive immune components and resident synoviocytes. Single-cell analyses of patient samples and relevant mouse models have characterized many cellular subsets in RA. However, the impact of interactions between cell types is not fully understood. In this study, we temporally profiled murine arthritic synovial isolates at the single-cell level to identify perturbations similar to those found in human RA. Notably, murine macrophage subtypes like those found in RA patients were expanded in arthritis and linked to promoting the function of Th17 cells in the joint. In vitro experiments identified a capacity for murine macrophages to maintain the functionality and expansion of Th17 cells. Reciprocally, murine Th17 cell-derived TNF-α induced CD38+ macrophages that enhanced Th17 functionality. Murine synovial CD38+ macrophages were expanded during arthritis, and their depletion or blockade via TNF-α neutralization alleviated disease while reducing IL-17A-producing cells. These findings identify a cellular feedback loop that promotes Th17 cell pathogenicity through TNF-α to drive inflammatory arthritis.

Cutting Edge: NFAT Transcription Factors Promote the Generation of Follicular Helper T Cells in Response to Acute Viral Infection.

Follicular CD4(+) Th (Tfh) cells provide B cell help in germinal center reactions that support class switching, somatic hypermutation, and the generation of high-affinity Abs. In this article, we show that deficiency in NFAT1 and NFAT2 in CD4(+) T cells leads to impaired germinal center reactions upon viral infection because of reduced Tfh cell differentiation and defective expression of proteins involved in T/B interactions and B cell help, including ICOS, PD-1, and SLAM family receptors. Genome-wide chromatin immunoprecipitation data suggest that NFAT proteins likely directly participate in regulation of genes important for Tfh cell differentiation and function. NFAT proteins are important TCR and Ca(2+)-dependent regulators of T cell biology, and in this article we demonstrate a major positive role of NFAT family members in Tfh differentiation.