Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Article
  • Published:

CD4+ T cell anergy prevents autoimmunity and generates regulatory T cell precursors

Abstract

The role of anergy, an acquired state of T cell functional unresponsiveness, in natural peripheral tolerance remains unclear. In this study, we found that anergy was selectively induced in fetal antigen–specific maternal CD4+ T cells during pregnancy. A naturally occurring subpopulation of anergic polyclonal CD4+ T cells, enriched for self antigen–specific T cell antigen receptors, was also present in healthy hosts. Neuropilin-1 expression in anergic conventional CD4+ T cells was associated with hypomethylation of genes related to thymic regulatory T cells (Treg cells), and this correlated with their ability to differentiate into Foxp3+ Treg cells that suppressed immunopathology. Thus, our data suggest that not only is anergy induction important in preventing autoimmunity but also it generates the precursors for peripheral Treg cell differentiation.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Maternal polyclonal CD4+ T cells specific for fetal antigen accumulate during gestation and display an anergic phenotype.
Figure 2: Foxp3CD44hiCD73hiFR4hi anergic-phenotype CD4+ polyclonal T cells accumulate in the secondary lymphoid organs.
Figure 3: Anergic polyclonal CD4+ T cells are quiescent at steady state yet show signs of continuous antigen encounter.
Figure 4: Reversal of anergy in polyclonal CD4+ T cells gives rise to Foxp3+ Treg cells.
Figure 5: Depletion of Treg cells derived from anergic cells leads to autoimmunity in lymphopenic mice.
Figure 6: Treg cells generated from anergic CD4+ polyclonal T cells prevent arthritis and colitis.
Figure 7: Polyclonal anergic CD4+ T cells demonstrate unique gene methylations.
Figure 8: Treg cell precursor populations show enrichment for Nrp1-expressing anergic cells.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Stritesky, G.L., Jameson, S.C. & Hogquist, K.A. Selection of self-reactive T cells in the thymus. Annu. Rev. Immunol. 30, 95–114 (2012).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Mueller, D.L. Mechanisms maintaining peripheral tolerance. Nat. Immunol. 11, 21–27 (2010).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Chappert, P. & Schwartz, R.H. Induction of T cell anergy: integration of environmental cues and infectious tolerance. Curr. Opin. Immunol. 22, 552–559 (2010).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Kearney, E.R., Pape, K.A., Loh, D.Y. & Jenkins, M.K. Visualization of peptide-specific T cell immunity and peripheral tolerance induction in vivo. Immunity 1, 327–339 (1994).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Vanasek, T.L., Khoruts, A., Zell, T. & Mueller, D.L. Antagonistic roles for CTLA-4 and the mammalian target of rapamycin in the regulation of clonal anergy: enhanced cell cycle progression promotes recall antigen responsiveness. J. Immunol. 167, 5636–5644 (2001).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Zheng, Y. et al. A role for mammalian target of rapamycin in regulating T cell activation versus anergy. J. Immunol. 178, 2163–2170 (2007).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Delgoffe, G.M. et al. The mTOR kinase differentially regulates effector and regulatory T cell lineage commitment. Immunity 30, 832–844 (2009).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Adler, A.J. et al. CD4+ T cell tolerance to parenchymal self-antigens requires presentation by bone marrow-derived antigen-presenting cells. J. Exp. Med. 187, 1555–1564 (1998).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Martinez, R.J. et al. Arthritogenic self-reactive CD4+ T cells acquire an FR4hiCD73hi anergic state in the presence of Foxp3+ regulatory T cells. J. Immunol. 188, 170–181 (2012).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Vanasek, T.L., Nandiwada, S.L., Jenkins, M.K. & Mueller, D.L. CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells facilitate CD4+ T cell clonal anergy induction during the recovery from lymphopenia. J. Immunol. 176, 5880–5889 (2006).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Knoechel, B., Lohr, J., Kahn, E. & Abbas, A.K. The link between lymphocyte deficiency and autoimmunity: roles of endogenous T and B lymphocytes in tolerance. J. Immunol. 175, 21–26 (2005).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Kim, J.M., Rasmussen, J.P. & Rudensky, A.Y. Regulatory T cells prevent catastrophic autoimmunity throughout the lifespan of mice. Nat. Immunol. 8, 191–197 (2007).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Sakaguchi, S., Yamaguchi, T., Nomura, T. & Ono, M. Regulatory T cells and immune tolerance. Cell 133, 775–787 (2008).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Fontenot, J.D., Gavin, M.A. & Rudensky, A.Y. Foxp3 programs the development and function of CD4+ CD25+ regulatory T cells. Nat. Immunol. 4, 330–336 (2003).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Bennett, C.L. et al. The immune dysregulation, polyendocrinopathy, enteropathy, X-linked syndrome (IPEX) is caused by mutations of FOXP3. Nat. Genet. 27, 20–21 (2001).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Hori, S., Nomura, T. & Sakaguchi, S. Control of regulatory T cell development by the transcription factor Foxp3. Science 299, 1057–1061 (2003).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Bruder, D. Neuropilin-1: a surface marker of regulatory T cells. Eur. J. Immunol. 34, 623–630 (2004).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Yadav, M. et al. Neuropilin-1 distinguishes natural and inducible regulatory T cells among regulatory T cell subsets in vivo. J. Exp. Med. 209, 1713–1722 (2012).

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  19. Delgoffe, G.M. et al. Stability and function of regulatory T cells is maintained by a neuropilin-1-semaphorin-4a axis. Nature 501, 252–256 (2013).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  20. Ohkura, N., Kitagawa, Y. & Sakaguchi, S. Development and maintenance of regulatory T cells. Immunity 38, 414–423 (2013).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Ohkura, N. et al. T cell receptor stimulation-induced epigenetic changes and Foxp3 expression are independent and complementary events required for Treg cell development. Immunity 37, 785–799 (2012).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Gavin, M.A. et al. Foxp3-dependent programme of regulatory T-cell differentiation. Nature 445, 771–775 (2007).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Hill, J.A. et al. Foxp3 transcription-factor-dependent and -independent regulation of the regulatory T cell transcriptional signature. Immunity 27, 786–800 (2007).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Morikawa, H. et al. Differential roles of epigenetic changes and Foxp3 expression in regulatory T cell-specific transcriptional regulation. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 111, 5289–5294 (2014).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  25. Zhou, X. et al. Instability of the transcription factor Foxp3 leads to the generation of pathogenic memory T cells in vivo. Nat. Immunol. 10, 1000–1007 (2009).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  26. Pauken, K.E. et al. Cutting edge: type 1 diabetes occurs despite robust anergy among endogenous insulin-specific cd4 t cells in NOD mice. J. Immunol. 191, 4913–4917 (2013).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Rowe, J.H., Ertelt, J.M., Xin, L. & Way, S.S. Pregnancy imprints regulatory memory that sustains anergy to fetal antigen. Nature 490, 102–106 (2012).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  28. Moon, J.J. et al. Naive CD4+ T cell frequency varies for different epitopes and predicts repertoire diversity and response magnitude. Immunity 27, 203–213 (2007).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  29. Stritesky, G.L. et al. Murine thymic selection quantified using a unique method to capture deleted T cells. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 110, 4679–4684 (2013).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  30. Moran, A.E. et al. T cell receptor signal strength in Treg and iNKT cell development demonstrated by a novel fluorescent reporter mouse. J. Exp. Med. 208, 1279–1289 (2011).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  31. Anandasabapathy, N. et al. GRAIL: an E3 ubiquitin ligase that inhibits cytokine gene transcription is expressed in anergic CD4+ T cells. Immunity 18, 535–547 (2003).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Matsumoto, I., Staub, A., Benoist, C. & Mathis, D. Arthritis provoked by linked T and B cell recognition of a glycolytic enzyme. Science 286, 1732–1735 (1999).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Powrie, F., Leach, M.W., Mauze, S., Caddle, L.B. & Coffman, R.L. Phenotypically distinct subsets of CD4+ T cells induce or protect from chronic intestinal inflammation in C. B-17 scid mice. Int. Immunol. 5, 1461–1471 (1993).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Ahern, P.P. et al. Interleukin-23 drives intestinal inflammation through direct activity on T cells. Immunity 33, 279–288 (2010).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  35. Polansky, J.K. et al. DNA methylation controls Foxp3 gene expression. Eur. J. Immunol. 38, 1654–1663 (2008).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Zhou, X. et al. Instability of the transcription factor Foxp3 leads to the generation of pathogenic memory T cells in vivo. Nat. Immunol. 10, 1000–1007 (2009).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  37. Zikherman, J., Parameswaran, R. & Weiss, A. Endogenous antigen tunes the responsiveness of naive B cells but not T cells. Nature 489, 160–164 (2012).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  38. Pape, K.A., Merica, R., Mondino, A., Khoruts, A. & Jenkins, M.K. Direct evidence that functionally impaired CD4+ T cells persist in vivo following induction of peripheral tolerance. J. Immunol. 160, 4719–4729 (1998).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Levine, A.G., Arvey, A., Jin, W. & Rudensky, A.Y. Continuous requirement for the TCR in regulatory T cell function. Nat. Immunol. 15, 1070–1078 (2014).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  40. Vahl, J.C. et al. Continuous T cell receptor signals maintain a functional regulatory T cell pool. immunity 41, 722–736 (2014).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Shimatani, K., Nakashima, Y., Hattori, M., Hamazaki, Y. & Minato, N. PD-1+ memory phenotype CD4+ T cells expressing C/EBPα underlie T cell immunodepression in senescence and leukemia. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 106, 15807–15812 (2009).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  42. Leavenworth, J.W., Verbinnen, B., Yin, J., Huang, H. & Cantor, H. A p85α-osteopontin axis couples the receptor ICOS to sustained Bcl-6 expression by follicular helper and regulatory T cells. Nat. Immunol. 16, 96–106 (2015).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Kline, J. et al. Homeostatic proliferation plus regulatory T-cell depletion promotes potent rejection of B16 melanoma. Clin. Cancer Res. 14, 3156–3167 (2008).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Hawiger, D. et al. Dendritic cells induce peripheral T cell unresponsiveness under steady state conditions in vivo. J. Exp. Med. 194, 769–779 (2001).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  45. Kretschmer, K. et al. Inducing and expanding regulatory T cell populations by foreign antigen. Nat. Immunol. 6, 1219–1227 (2005).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  46. Schallenberg, S., Tsai, P.Y., Riewaldt, J. & Kretschmer, K. Identification of an immediate Foxp3 precursor to Foxp3+ regulatory T cells in peripheral lymphoid organs of nonmanipulated mice. J. Exp. Med. 207, 1393–1407 (2010).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  47. Binstadt, B.A. et al. Particularities of the vasculature can promote the organ specificity of autoimmune attack. Nat. Immunol. 7, 284–292 (2006).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  48. Rohde, C. et al. Bisulfite sequencing Data Presentation and Compilation (BDPC) web server–a useful tool for DNA methylation analysis. Nucleic Acids Res. 36, e34 (2008).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank J.A. Bluestone (University of California, San Francisco) for spleen and lymph node cells from Foxp3-Cre-GFP × R26-YFP mice and discussions; D. Mathis and C. Benoist (Harvard Medical School) and the Institut de Genetique et de Biologie Moleculaire et Cellulaire (Strasbourg, France) for B6.g7 mice and KRN B6 mice; A. Rudensky (Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center) for B6 Foxp3DTR knock-in mice; S.S. Way (University of Cincinnati) for B6 Foxp3GFP and Foxp3DTR CD45.1 mice; J.A. Bluestone (University of San Francisco) for cells from the spleen and all lymph nodes of Foxp3-Cre-GFP × R26-YFP mice; S.C. Jameson, M. Mescher and M.A. Farrar for discussions; P.J. Titcombe for technical support; and N. Shah, T. Martin and J. Motl for assistance in cell sorting. Supported by the Rheumatology Research Foundation (Within Our Reach: Finding a Cure for Rheumatoid Arthritis campaign grant to D.L.M.) and the US National Institutes of Health (01 AI35296 to D.L.M., B.T.F., K.A.H. and M.K.J.).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

L.A.K. and D.L.M. designed the experiments and analyzed the data; L.A.K. performed most of the experiments; S.E.S., S.L.N., W.Y.L., L.O.B., N.Z., G.L.S., D.M., K.E.P. and J.L.L. performed experiments or provided technical help; M.G.O.S. scored histology slides; B.T.F., K.A.H. and M.K.J. provided scientific input; D.L.M. conceived of the study and directed the research; and L.A.K. and D.L.M. wrote the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniel L Mueller.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Integrated supplementary information

Supplementary Figure 1 A Foxp3CD44hiCD73hiFR4hi anergic compartment shows enrichment for autoreactive insulin-specific CD4+ polyclonal T cells.

(a) InsB10-23:I-Ag7 and HEL:I-Ag7 tetramer-binding CD4 polyclonal T cells (pulled-down and detected as previously reported) in NOD and B6.g7 mice were stained for Foxp3 and CD44. (b) CD73 and FR4 expression on the Foxp3CD44hi tetramer-binding CD4+ polyclonal T cells. (c) Percent and number of Foxp3CD44hiCD73hiFR4hi anergic CD4 polyclonal T cells for each tetramer-binding specificity. Mean data shown are representative of 2 independent experiment, n = 5 to 7 animals per experiment. Error bars represent the SEM. Unpaired student’s t-test (c); * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01. Points denote individual mice.

Supplementary Figure 2 KRN CD4+ T cells cause arthritis in lymphopenic Tcra−/− mice following reversal of anergy.

CD73hiFR4hi KRN transgenic CD4+ T cells made anergic by adoptive transfer into WT B6G7F1 hosts for 6 days were subsequently recovered by flow cytometric cell sorting and transferred (104) into either WT or Tcra−/− B6G7F1 hosts. (a) CD73 and FR4 expression on donor KRN cells recovered from the WT and Tcra−/− hosts 15 days later. (b) Percent change in the body weight of WT and Tcra−/− mice receiving anergic KRN T cells. (c) Arthritis Clinical Index score for WT and Tcra−/− mice receiving anergic KRN T cells. Data shown are representative of 2 independent experiments, n = 2 to 3 animals per experiment. Error bars represent the SEM. Unpaired student’s t-test (b) or Mann-Whitney U-test (c) at day 15. * p < 0.0001

Supplementary Figure 3 Gating strategy and purity after sorting.

(a) Polyclonal CD4+ T cells from Foxp3DTR mice were first isolated by MACS CD4 negative selection, and then the naive, Teff/mem, anergic and Treg cell subsets were physically sorted by flow cytometry using the gating strategy shown. Arrowheads indicate the subpopulations collected. (b) Post-sort purity for naive, Teff/mem, anergic and Treg cells.

Supplementary Figure 4 Experimental design for Figure 5.

Sorted naive or anergic syngeneic Foxp3DTR polyclonal CD4+ T cells were transferred (105) into syngeneic lymphopenic Tcra−/− hosts and treated with either PBS or diphtheria toxin (DT), as indicated. Mice were monitored for weight loss and the experiment stopped if ~20% weight loss was observed.

Supplementary Figure 5 Reversal of anergy in polyclonal CD4+ T cells results in autoantibody production after ablation of newly generated Treg cells.

Lymphopenic Tcra−/− mice were given an adoptive transfer (105) of either naive or anergic syngeneic Foxp3DTR polyclonal CD4+ T cells, followed by every other day treatment with diphtheria toxin (DT). Sera were recovered from mice 21 days later and used to probe various tissue extracts (as indicted). (a) Sera taken from Rag−/− (top), Tcra−/− (middle), and WT B6 (bottom) mice were assayed as a negative control for autoantibody generation. (b) Sera obtained from three separate adoptive transfer recipients of naive T cells or (c) anergic T cells. Arrowheads indicate self antigen-binding by serum antibodies that are uniquely present with recipients of anergic CD4+ T cells. m = marker, He = heart, Ki = kidney, Pa = pancreas, Li = liver, Lu = lung, Gu = gut, Sa = salivary gland. Summary data are shown in figure 5e. Note that an irrelevant 60 Kd background band (most prominent in lung extracts) was demonstrated in all blots even in the absence of serum antibody (not shown), and this band is disregarded.

Supplementary Figure 6 Quantification and frequency of Treg cells recovered in models of arthritis and colitis from polyclonal anergic cells.

(a-c) Experimental design for the KRN model of arthritis (a). The number and percentage of Treg cells recovered on day 33 of reconstitution (b-c). 3 independent experiments. 1-3 mice per group. (d-e) Experimental design for colitis experiment (d). Percentage and number of Treg cells recovered on week 8 (e). 2 independent experiments. 2 mice per group. Mean data shown. Error bars represent the SEM. One-Way ANOVA (c); * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.001, *** p < 0.0001, ns (non-significant). Points denote individual mice.

Supplementary Figure 7 Formerly Foxp3-expressing cells make up a very small fraction of anergic cells.

(a) CD4+ T cells from the spleen and all lymph nodes of Foxp3-Cre-GFP x R26-YFP were gated on CD44 and Foxp3GFP, then the naive and Treg cells are gated on YFP. (b) Foxp3CD44hi anergic and Teff/mem cells were analyzed for exFoxp3 cells by YFP expression. (c) Percent and number of exFoxp3 cells in naive, Teff/mem and anergic cells is shown. Mean data shown. Error bars represent the SEM. One-Way ANOVA (c); * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.0001, ns (non-significant). Points denote individual mice.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Text and Figures

Supplementary Figures 1–7 and Supplementary Table 1 (PDF 1637 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Kalekar, L., Schmiel, S., Nandiwada, S. et al. CD4+ T cell anergy prevents autoimmunity and generates regulatory T cell precursors. Nat Immunol 17, 304–314 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/ni.3331

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ni.3331

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing