MHC-Independent Genetic Factors Control the Magnitude of CD4⁺ T Cell Responses to Amyloid-β Peptide in Mice through Regulatory T Cell-Mediated Inhibition

Abstract

Accumulation of amyloid-β peptide (Aβ) is considered the triggering factor of pathogenic lesions in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and vaccines targeting Aβ are promising therapeutic options. However, the occurrence of meningoencephalitides attributed to T cell responses in 6% of Aβ-immunized patients underscores the need for a better understanding of T cell responses to Aβ. We characterized the parameters controlling the magnitude of Aβ-specific CD4⁺ T cell responses in mice. T cell responsiveness to Aβ1-42 was highly heterogeneous between mouse strains of different H-2 haplotypes, with SJL/J (H-2^s) mice displaying a strong response, mainly specific for Aβ10-24, and C57BL/6 (H-2^b) mice displaying a weak response to Aβ16-30. Surprisingly, C57BL/6 mice congenic for the H-2^s haplotype (B6.H-2^S), which display a “permissive” MHC class II allele for presentation of the immunodominant Aβ10-24 epitope, showed a very weak CD4⁺ T cell response to Aβ, suggesting that MHC-independent genes downmodulate Aβ-specific CD4⁺ T cell responses in C57BL/6 background. Vaccine-induced CD4⁺ T cell responses to Aβ were significantly enhanced in both C57BL/6 and B6.H-2^S mice upon depletion of regulatory T cells (Tregs), whereas Treg-depleted SJL/J mice displayed unaltered Aβ-specific T cell responses. Finally, Treg depletion in C57BL/6 transgenic APPPS1 mice, a mouse model of AD, results in enhanced vaccine-induced CD4⁺ T cell responses in AD compared with wild-type animals. We concluded that the magnitude of Aβ-specific CD4⁺ T cell responses is critically controlled in both physiological and pathological settings by MHC-independent genetic factors that determine the overall potency of Aβ-specific Treg responses.