RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 PTPN22 Alters the Development of Regulatory T Cells in the Thymus
JF The Journal of Immunology
JO J. Immunol.
FD American Association of Immunologists
SP 5267
OP 5275
DO 10.4049/jimmunol.1200150
VO 188
IS 11
A1 Maine, Christian J.
A1 Hamilton-Williams, Emma E.
A1 Cheung, Jocelyn
A1 Stanford, Stephanie M.
A1 Bottini, Nunzio
A1 Wicker, Linda S.
A1 Sherman, Linda A.
YR 2012
UL http://www.jimmunol.org/content/188/11/5267.abstract
AB PTPN22 encodes a tyrosine phosphatase that inhibits Src-family kinases responsible for Ag receptor signaling in lymphocytes and is strongly linked with susceptibility to a number of autoimmune diseases. As strength of TCR signal is critical to the thymic selection of regulatory T cells (Tregs), we examined the effect of murine PTPN22 deficiency on Treg development and function. In the thymus, numbers of pre-Tregs and Tregs increased inversely with the level of PTPN22. This increase in Tregs persisted in the periphery and could play a key part in the reduced severity observed in the PTPN22-deficient mice of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, a mouse model of multiple sclerosis. This could explain the lack of association of certain autoimmune conditions with PTPN22 risk alleles.