Repression of SATB1 in regulatory T cells is required for suppressive function and inhibition of effector differentiation

Joachim L Schultze (1) , Marc Beyer (1) , Yasser Thabet (1) , Sabine Classen (1) , Eva Schoenfeld (1) , Andrea Gaarz (1) , Svenja Debey-Pascher (1) , Roman U. Mueller (1) , Bernhard Schermer (1) , Timothy Sadlon (1) , Simon C. Barry (1) , Katharina Lahl (1) , Christian T. Mayer (1) , Tim Sparwasser (1) , Samik Basu (1) , Tatiana Golovina (1) , James L Riley (1) , Xuyu Zhou (1) , Samantha L. Bailey-Bucktrout (1) , Jeffrey A Bluestone (1) , Elmar Endl (1) , Percy Knolle (1) , Keli L. Hippen (1) , Bruce Robert Blazar (1) , Robert Balderas (1) , Thomas Quast (1) , Waldemar Kolanus (1) , Guenter Mayer (1) , Michael Famulok (1) , Andreas Waha (1) , Andreas Limmer (1) , Wolfgang Krebs (1) , Jan Böttcher (1) , Daniel Sommer (1) , Claudia Wickenhauser (1)

1 Genomics & Immunoregulation

Regulatory T (Treg) cells are essential for self-tolerance and immune homeostasis. Lack of effector T cell (Teff) function and gain of suppressive activity by Treg are dependent on the transcriptional program induced by Foxp3. Here we report repression of SATB1, a genome organizer regulating chromatin structure and gene expression, as crucial for Treg phenotype and function. Foxp3, acting as a transcriptional repressor, directly suppressed the SATB1 locus and indirectly through induction of microRNAs that bound the SATB1 3′UTR. Release of SATB1 from Foxp3 control in Treg caused loss of suppressive function, establishment of transcriptional Teff programs and induction of Teff cytokines. These data support that inhibition of SATB1-mediated modulation of global chromatin remodelling is pivotal for maintaining Treg functionality.

Mots clés: T cells; Gene regulation; miRNA

Domaines: Immunologie

Joachim L Schultze, Marc Beyer, Yasser Thabet, Sabine Classen, Eva Schoenfeld, et al.. Repression of SATB1 in regulatory T cells is required for suppressive function and inhibition of effector differentiation. Nature Immunology, 2011, ⟨10.1038/ni.2084⟩. ⟨hal-00669816⟩