Cell-penetrable mouse forkhead box protein 3 alleviates experimental arthritis in mice by up-regulating regulatory T cells.

Regulatory T cells (T(regs)) have potential applications in clinical disease therapy, such as autoimmune diseases and transplant rejection. However, their numbers are limited. Forkhead box protein 3 (FoxP3) is a key transcription factor that controls T(reg) development and function. Here, we generated a cell-permeable fusion protein, protein transduction domain (PTD)-conjugated mouse FoxP3 protein (PTD-mFoxP3), and evaluated whether PTD-mFoxp3 can alleviate rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in the collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) mouse model. As expected, PTD-mFoxP3 was transduced into cells effectively, and inhibited T cell activation and attenuated the cell proliferation. It decreased interleukin (IL) 2 and interferon (IFN)-γ expression, and increased IL-10 expression in activated CD4(+)CD25(-) T cells. PTD-mFoxP3-transduced CD4(+)CD25(-) T cells attenuated proliferation of activated CD4(+)CD25(-) T cells. In addition, PTD-mFoxP3 blocked the Th17 differentiation programme in vitro and down-regulated IL-17 production from T cells by modulating induction and levels of retinoid-related orphan receptor gamma t (RORγt). Intra-articular delivery of PTD-mFoxP3 delayed disease incidence remarkably and alleviated autoimmune symptoms of CIA mice. Moreover, protective effects of PTD-mFoxP3 were associated with regulating the balance of T helper type 17 (Th17) and T(regs). These results suggest that PTD-mFoxP3 may be a candidate for RA therapy.

PTD-mediated intracellular delivery of mutant NFAT minimum DNA binding domain inhibited the proliferation of T cells.

The nuclear factor of activated T cell (NFAT) family of calcium-regulated transcription factors plays a key role in the development and function of the immune system. Calcineurin, a protein phosphatase, activates NFAT by dephosphorylation. The activated NFAT is translocated into the nucleus, where it up-regulates the expression of interleukin 2 (IL-2) and other target genes. Calcineurin inhibitors such as cyclosporine A (CsA) and FK506 are effective immunosuppressant drugs and dramatically increase the success rate of organ transplantation procedures. However, since calcineurin is expressed in most tissues in the body and calcineurin inhibition alters many cellular processes besides immune cell activation, the therapeutic use of calcineurin inhibitors is limited by serious side effects. Thus inhibiting NFAT by other mechanisms such as blocking its binding to DNA could be a more selective and safer approach to target NFAT for therapeutic applications. In peripheral T cells, productive immune responses are dependent upon the cooperative binding of the NFAT/AP-1 transcriptional complex to the promoter regions of genes such as interleukin-2 (IL-2), while NFAT in the absence of AP-1 leads to T cell anergy. Protein transduction domains (PTDs) are able to penetrate cell membranes and can be used to transport exogenous proteins across the cell and nuclear membranes. In this study, we constructed a fusion protein of PTD and a minimum DNA binding domain of human NFAT1 (PTD-ΔNFATminiDBD), which contains two mutations (R466A and T533G) in the AP-1 binding sites. The delivery and functions of this fusion protein in T cells were investigated. The results indicated that PTD-ΔNFATminiDBD could be effectively delivered into T cells and transported into the nucleus. PTD-ΔNFATminiDBD attenuated IL-2 production in T cells and then inhibited T cell proliferation, likely through competing against endogenous NFAT for binding to the IL-2 gene promoter. These results demonstrated that PTD-ΔNFATminiDBD was an effective NFAT inhibitor with a novel mechanism of action and might potentially be used as an immunosuppressant for organ transplantation with higher safety and better tolerance than calcineurin inhibitors.

Doxycycline enhances the Ras-MAPK signaling and proliferation of mouse thymic epithelial cells.

Depletion of T-cell-dependent immunity is a major consideration for patients suffering from infections of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), those undergoing organ transplantation, and those receiving anti-cancer chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. In general, T-cell regeneration occurs in the thymus through thymopoiesis. We have found that doxycycline (Dox), a tetracycline derivative, enhances the proliferation of mouse thymic epithelial cells, which are unique in their capacity to support positive selection and are essential throughout the development of thymocytes. Cell cycle analysis indicates that the increased cell proliferation is due to a shortened G(0)/G(1) phase. To reveal the underlying mechanisms, we examined the expression of an array of molecules that regulate the cell cycle. The results show that in mouse thymic medullary-type epithelial cell line 1 (MTEC1) Dox leads to elevated levels of H-Ras, phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (p-ERK1/2), cyclin E, cyclin dependent kinase 4/2 (CDK4/CDK2), E2F3, and c-myc. These data, and the observation that the proliferation-enhancing effect is largely abolished following treatment with an ERK inhibitor support an active role of the Ras-ERK/mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway. In conclusion, the present study reveals a new activity of an old family of antibiotics. The in vivo effect of Dox on immune reconstitution warrants further exploration.

[Effect of PTD-deltaPRD Foxp3 fusion protein on the mixed lymphocyte reaction in mice].

OBJECTIVE: To express protein transduction domain (PTD)-deletion proline domain (deltaPRD) Foxp3 fusion protein, and to analyze its influence on mixed lymphocyte reaction in mice. METHODS: We cloned mouse deltaPRD of Foxp3 gene by PCR, and inserted it into pET28a-PTD, pET28a-PTD-eGFP vector, then expressed fusion proteins in E.coli Rosetta (DE3). The fusion proteins were purified and refolded by Profinity IMAC Ni(2+)-Charged Resin. The expression of fusion proteins was identified by Western blot. Flow cytometry assay was used to detect the effect of PTD-deltaPRD fusion protein to transduce into mouse EL-4 cells. The ability of fusion protein to inhibit the proliferation of EL-4 cells was analyzed by two-way mixed lymphocyte reaction. RESULTS: The PTD-deltaPRD fusion proteins were expressed and purified efficiently. Western blot and flow cytometry indicated that PTD-deltaPRD fusion protein was transduced into EL-4 efficiently. Mixed lympocyte reaction assay showed that PTD-deltaPRD fusion protein had the bioactivity to inhibit the proliferation of EL-4 cells. CONCLUSION: The PTD-deltaPRD fusion protein was expressed in E.coli system and could be transduced into cells effectively, suggesting that PTD-deltaPRD fusion protein may be an inhibitor in lymphocytes from mouse spleen.