Quantitative Proteomics Identifies TCF1 as a Negative Regulator of Foxp3 Expression in Conventional T Cells.

Regulatory T cells are important regulators of the immune system and have versatile functions for the homeostasis and repair of tissues. They express the forkhead box transcription factor Foxp3 as a lineage-defining protein. Negative regulators of Foxp3 expression are not well understood.

Rbpj expression in regulatory T cells is critical for restraining T2 responses.

The transcriptional regulator Rbpj is involved in T-helper (T) subset polarization, but its function in T cells remains unclear. Here we show that T-specific Rbpj deletion leads to splenomegaly and lymphadenopathy despite increased numbers of T cells with a polyclonal TCR repertoire. A specific defect of Rbpj-deficient T cells in controlling T2 polarization and B cell responses is observed, leading to the spontaneous formation of germinal centers and a T2-associated immunoglobulin class switch.

Corrigendum: Genome-wide DNA-methylation landscape defines specialization of regulatory T cells in tissues.

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/ni.3799.

Genome-wide DNA-methylation landscape defines specialization of regulatory T cells in tissues.

Regulatory T cells (T cells) perform two distinct functions: they maintain self-tolerance, and they support organ homeostasis by differentiating into specialized tissue T cells. We found that epigenetic modifications defined the molecular characteristics of tissue T cells. Tagmentation-based whole-genome bisulfite sequencing revealed more than 11,000 regions that were methylated differentially in pairwise comparisons of tissue T cell populations and lymphoid T cells.

The stress kinase GCN2 does not mediate suppression of antitumor T cell responses by tryptophan catabolism in experimental melanomas.

Tryptophan metabolism is a key process that shapes the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. The two rate-limiting enzymes that mediate tryptophan depletion, indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) and tryptophan-2,3-dioxygenase (TDO), have moved into the focus of research and inhibitors targeting IDO and TDO have entered clinical trials. Local tryptophan depletion is generally viewed as the crucial immunosuppressive mechanism.

Treg Cell Differentiation: From Thymus to Peripheral Tissue.

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are crucial mediators of self-tolerance in the periphery. They differentiate in the thymus, where interactions with thymus-resident antigen-presenting cells, an instructive cytokine milieu, and stimulation of the T cell receptor lead to the selection into the Treg lineage and the induction of Foxp3 gene expression. Once mature, Treg cells leave the thymus and migrate into either the secondary lymphoid tissues, e.

Transcription Factor 7 Limits Regulatory T Cell Generation in the Thymus.

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) differentiate in the thymus, but the mechanisms that control this process are not fully understood. We generated a comprehensive quantitative and differential proteome of murine Tregs and conventional T cells. We identified 5225 proteins, 164 of which were differentially expressed in Tregs.

The Contained Self-Reactive Peripheral T Cell Repertoire: Size, Diversity, and Cellular Composition.

Individual self-reactive T cells have been discovered in both humans and mice. It is difficult to assess the entire contained self-reactive peripheral T cell repertoire in healthy individuals because regulatory T cells (Tregs) can render these cells anergic and, therefore, functionally indistinguishable. We addressed this issue by removing regulatory T cells, thereby allowing us to characterize the exposed self-reactive T cells.

Premature expression of Foxp3 in double-negative thymocytes.

Peripheral immune regulation depends on the generation of thymic-derived regulatory T (tTreg) cells to maintain self-tolerance and to counterbalance overshooting immune responses. The expression of the Treg lineage defining transcription factor Foxp3 in developing tTreg cells depends on TCR signaling during the thymic selection process of these T cells. In this study, we surprisingly identify Foxp3+ immature thymocytes at the double-negative (DN) stage in transcription factor 7 (Tcf7)-deficient mice.