A Spontaneous Mutation of the Rat Themis Gene Leads to Impaired Function of Regulatory T Cells Linked to Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Figure 4
Impaired suppressive function of BNm Treg is involved in the development of intestinal lesions.
(A) Absolute numbers of Foxp3+ CD4+ T cells in thymus, spleen and mLN from BN (n = 7) and BNm (n = 13) rats. Data are representative of three independent experiments. (B) Suppressive activity of thymic CD25bright CD4+ SP cells (top panel) and peripheral CD25bright CD4+ T cells (bottom panel) from BN or BNm rats was assessed in co-culture experiments with CFSE-labeled naive LEW CD4 T cells as effector cells. Proliferation was assessed by CFSE dilution (percentages indicate the proportion of CFSElow cells). Data are representative of three independent experiments. (C, D) Disease frequency (C) and duodenum microscopic scores (D) in 12 week-old BNm rats injected with PBS (white column or symbols; n = 21) or with 4.106 BN CD25bright CD4+ T cells (grey columns or symbols; n = 12) at 4 weeks of age. (E) Cytokine protein expression in duodenum from control BNm rats with microscopic intestinal scores (white columns; n = 8) and from BNm rats transferred with CD25bright CD4+ T cells (grey columns; n = 12).