MUCOSAL IMMUNOLOGY. Individual intestinal symbionts induce a distinct population of RORγ⁺ regulatory T cells.

Science
Authors
Keywords
Abstract

T regulatory cells that express the transcription factor Foxp3 (Foxp3(+) T(regs)) promote tissue homeostasis in several settings. We now report that symbiotic members of the human gut microbiota induce a distinct T(reg) population in the mouse colon, which constrains immuno-inflammatory responses. This induction—which we find to map to a broad, but specific, array of individual bacterial species—requires the transcription factor Rorγ, paradoxically, in that Rorγ is thought to antagonize FoxP3 and to promote T helper 17 (T(H)17) cell differentiation. Rorγ's transcriptional footprint differs in colonic T(regs) and T(H)17 cells and controls important effector molecules. Rorγ, and the T(regs) that express it, contribute substantially to regulating colonic T(H)1/T(H)17 inflammation. Thus, the marked context-specificity of Rorγ results in very different outcomes even in closely related cell types.

Year of Publication
2015
Journal
Science
Volume
349
Issue
6251
Pages
993-7
Date Published
2015 Aug 28
ISSN
1095-9203
URL
DOI
10.1126/science.aaa9420
PubMed ID
26272906
PubMed Central ID
PMC4700932
Links
Grant list
R01 AI110630 / AI / NIAID NIH HHS / United States
R56 AI110630 / AI / NIAID NIH HHS / United States
R01-AI51530 / AI / NIAID NIH HHS / United States
R37 AI051530 / AI / NIAID NIH HHS / United States
K01 DK102771 / DK / NIDDK NIH HHS / United States
P30 DK034854 / DK / NIDDK NIH HHS / United States
R01 AI051530 / AI / NIAID NIH HHS / United States
R56-AI110630 / AI / NIAID NIH HHS / United States