Dilated coronary arteries in a 2-month-old with RIT1-associated Noonan syndrome: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Noonan Syndrome is caused by variants in a variety of genes found in the RAS/MAPK pathway. As more causative genes for Noonan Syndrome have been identified, more phenotype variability has been found, particularly congenital heart defects. Here, we report a case of dilated coronary arteries in a pediatric patient with a RIT1 variant to add to the body of literature around this rare presentation of Noonan Syndrome.  CASE PRESENTATION: A 2-month-old female was admitted due to increasing coronary artery dilation and elevated inflammatory markers. Rapid whole genome sequencing was performed and a likely pathogenic RIT1 variant was detected. This gene has been associated with a rare form of Noonan Syndrome and associated heart defects. Diagnosis of the RIT1 variant also gave reassurance about the patient's cardiac findings and allowed for more timely discharge as she was discharged to home the following day.  CONCLUSIONS: This case highlights the importance of the association between dilated coronary arteries and Noonan syndrome and that careful cardiac screening should be advised in patients diagnosed with Noonan syndrome. In addition, this case emphasizes the importance of involvement of other subspecialities to determine a diagnosis. Through multidisciplinary medicine, the patient was able to return home in a timely manner with a diagnosis and the reassurance that despite her dilated coronary arteries and elevated inflammatory markers there was no immediate concern to her health.

Hematopoietic Stem Cell Mobilization Is Necessary but Not Sufficient for Tolerance in Islet Transplantation.

Overcoming the immune response to establish durable immune tolerance in type 1 diabetes remains a substantial challenge. The ongoing effector immune response involves numerous immune cell types but is ultimately orchestrated and sustained by the hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) niche. We therefore hypothesized that tolerance induction also requires these pluripotent precursors. In this study, we determined that the tolerance-inducing agent anti-CD45RB induces HSC mobilization in nonautoimmune B6 mice but not in diabetes-prone NOD mice. Ablation of HSCs impaired tolerance to allogeneic islet transplants in B6 recipients. Mobilization of HSCs resulted in part from decreasing osteoblast expression of HSC retention factors. Furthermore, HSC mobilization required a functioning sympathetic nervous system; sympathectomy prevented HSC mobilization and completely abrogated tolerance induction. NOD HSCs were held in their niche by excess expression of CXCR4, which, when blocked, led to HSC mobilization and prolonged islet allograft survival. Overall, these findings indicate that the HSC compartment plays an underrecognized role in the establishment and maintenance of immune tolerance, and this role is disrupted in diabetes-prone NOD mice. Understanding the stem cell response to immune therapies in ongoing human clinical studies may help identify and maximize the effect of immune interventions for type 1 diabetes.

Regulation of B lymphocyte responses to Toll-like receptor ligand binding during diabetes prevention in non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice.

BACKGROUND: Interactions between genetic risk factors and the environment drive type 1 diabetes (T1D). The system of Toll-like receptors (TLR) detects these environmental triggers; however, the target cell that intermediates these interactions to drive T1D remains unknown. METHODS: We investigated the effect of TLR pathway activation (myeloid differentiation primary response 88 [MyD88] vs TIR-domain-containing adapter-inducing interferon-ß [TRIF]) on B cell subsets via flow cytometry, including their activation, survival, proliferation, and cytoskeletal mobilization. The effect of polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (poly(I:C)) on diabetes development was addressed, including the B cell-dependent activation of diabetes-protective DX5+ cells, using genetic models and adoptive transfer. RESULTS: B lymphocytes from non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice expressed enhanced levels of TLR-responsive proteins. Ex vivo analysis of B lymphocyte subsets demonstrated that TLR3 stimulation via TRIF deletes cells exhibiting a marginal zone phenotype, whereas MyD88-dependent ligands enhance their survival. In vivo, marginal zone B cells were activated by poly(I:C) and were unexpectedly retained in the spleen of NOD mice, in contrast with the mobilization of these cells in non-autoimmune mice, a phenotype we traced to defective actin cytoskeletal dynamics. These activated B cells mediated TLR3-induced diabetes protection. CONCLUSIONS: Immunotherapies must account for both B cell location and activation, and these properties may differ in autoimmune and healthy settings.

Dysregulation of T lymphocyte proliferative responses in autoimmunity.

T cells are critically dependent on cellular proliferation in order to carry out their effector functions. Autoimmune strains are commonly thought to have uncontrolled T cell proliferation; however, in the murine model of autoimmune diabetes, hypo-proliferation of T cells leading to defective AICD was previously uncovered. We now determine whether lupus prone murine strains are similarly hyporesponsive. Upon extensive characterization of T lymphocyte activation, we have observed a common feature of CD4 T cell activation shared among three autoimmune strains-NOD, MRL, and NZBxNZW F1s. When stimulated with a polyclonal mitogen, CD4 T cells demonstrate arrested cell division and diminished dose responsiveness as compared to the non-autoimmune strain C57BL/6, a phenotype we further traced to a reliance on B cell mediated costimulation, which underscores the success of B cell directed immune therapies in preventing T cell mediated tissue injury. In turn, the diminished proliferative capacity of these CD4 T cells lead to a decreased, but activation appropriate, susceptibility to activation induced cell death. A similar decrement in stimulation response was observed in the CD8 compartment of NOD mice; NOD CD8 T cells were distinguished from lupus prone strains by a diminished dose-responsiveness to anti-CD3 mediated stimulation. This distinction may explain the differential pathogenetic pathways activated in diabetes and lupus prone murine strains.

Cutting edge: the "death" adaptor CRADD/RAIDD targets BCL10 and suppresses agonist-induced cytokine expression in T lymphocytes.

The expression of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines in response to TCR agonists is regulated by the caspase-recruitment domain membrane-associated guanylate kinase 1 (CARMA1) signalosome through the coordinated assembly of complexes containing the BCL10 adaptor protein. We describe a novel mechanism to negatively regulate the CARMA1 signalosome by the "death" adaptor protein caspase and receptor interacting protein adaptor with death domain (CRADD)/receptor interacting protein-associated ICH-1/CED-3 homologous protein with a death domain. We show that CRADD interacts with BCL10 through its caspase recruitment domain and suppresses interactions between BCL10 and CARMA1. TCR agonist-induced interaction between CRADD and BCL10 coincides with reduction of its complex formation with CARMA1 in wild-type, as compared with Cradd-deficient, primary cells. Finally, Cradd-deficient spleen cells, CD4(+) T cells, and mice respond to T cell agonists with strikingly higher production of proinflammatory mediators, including IFN-γ, IL-2, TNF-α, and IL-17. These results define a novel role for CRADD as a negative regulator of the CARMA1 signalosome and suppressor of Th1- and Th17-mediated inflammatory responses.