Modulation of Suppressive Activity and Proliferation of Human Regulatory T Cells by Splice-Switching Oligonucleotides Targeting FoxP3 Pre-mRNA

The maturation, development, and function of regulatory T cells (Tregs) are under the control of the crucial transcription factor Forkhead Box Protein 3 (FoxP3). Through alternative splicing, the human FoxP3 gene produces four different splice variants: a full-length variant (FL) and truncated variants with deletions of each of exons 2 (∆2 variant) or 7 (∆7 variant) or a deletion of both exons (∆2∆7 variant). Their involvement in the biology of Tregs as well as their association with autoimmune diseases remains to be clarified. The aim of this work was to induce a single FoxP3 splice variant in human Tregs by splice switching oligonucleotides and to monitor their phenotype and proliferative and suppressive activity. We demonstrated that Tregs from peripheral blood from patients with multiple sclerosis preferentially expressed truncated splice variants, while the FL variant was the major variant in healthy donors. Tregs with induced expression of truncated FoxP3 splice variants demonstrated lower suppressive activity than those expressing FL variants. Reduced suppression was associated with the decreased expression of Treg-associated suppressive surface molecules and the production of cytokines. The deletion of exons 2 and/or 7 also reduced the cell proliferation rate. The results of this study show an association between FoxP3 splice variants and Treg function and proliferation. The modulation of Treg suppressive activity by the induction of the FoxP3 FL variant can become a promising strategy for regenerative immunotherapy.

Authors
Blinova Varvara G.1 , Gladilina Yulia A.1 , Abramova Anna A.1, 2 , Eliseeva Daria D.2 , Vtorushina Valentina V.3 , Shishparenok Anastasia N.1 , Zhdanov Dmitry D. 1, 4
Journal
Publisher
NLM (Medline)
Number of issue
1
Language
English
Pages
77
Status
Published
Volume
13
Year
2024
Organizations
  • 1 Laboratory of Medical Biotechnology, Institute of Biomedical Chemistry, Pogodinskaya st. 10/8, 119121 Moscow, Russia
  • 2 Research Center of Neurology, Volokolamskoe Shosse, 80, 125367 Moscow, Russia
  • 3 National Medical Research Center for Obstetrics, Gynecology and Perinatology Named after Academician V.I. Kulakov of Ministry of Healthcare of the Russian Federation, Laboratory of Clinical Immunology, Academician Oparin st. 4, 117997 Moscow, Russia
  • 4 Department of Biochemistry, People’s Friendship University of Russia Named after Patrice Lumumba (RUDN University), Miklukho-Maklaya st. 6, 117198 Moscow, Russia
Date of creation
28.01.2024
Date of change
28.01.2024
Short link
https://repository.rudn.ru/en/records/article/record/106157/
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