A novel role for lipoxin A4 in driving a lymph node-eye axis that controls autoimmunity to the neuroretina
Abstract
The eicosanoid lipoxin A4 (LXA4) has emerging roles in lymphocyte-driven diseases. We identified reduced LXA4 levels in posterior segment uveitis patients and investigated the role of LXA4 in the pathogenesis of experimental autoimmune uveitis (EAU). Immunization for EAU with a retinal self-antigen caused selective downregulation of LXA4 in lymph nodes draining the site of immunization, while at the same time amplifying LXA4 in the inflamed target tissue. T cell effector function, migration and glycolytic responses were amplified in LXA4-deficient mice, which correlated with more severe pathology, whereas LXA4 treatment attenuated disease. In vivo deletion or supplementation of LXA4 identified modulation of CC-chemokine receptor 7 (CCR7) and sphingosine 1- phosphate receptor-1 (S1PR1) expression and glucose metabolism in CD4+ T cells as potential mechanisms for LXA4 regulation of T cell effector function and trafficking. Our results demonstrate the intrinsic lymph node LXA4 pathway as a significant checkpoint in the development and severity of adaptive immunity.
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All data needed to evaluate the conclusions of the paper are present in the main text and Supplementary Materials.
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Funding
National Eye Institute (EY026082)
- Karsten Gronert
National Eye Institute (EY000184)
- Rachel R Caspi
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Ethics
Animal experimentation: All experimental procedures were approved by the Animal Care and Use program at University of California, Berkeley, and the National Eye Institute at the National Institutes of Health.(protocol AUP-2016-04-8691-1),
Human subjects: Male and female patients ages 30 - 76 with clinical diagnosis of non-infectious posterior segment uveitis were enrolled in the National Eye Institute protocol number 16-EI-0046. Healthy controls were NIH blood bank donors of both sexes with a similar age range. Serum samples were obtained from male and female patients ages 30 - 76 with clinical diagnosis of non-infectious posterior uveitis, healthy controls were NIH blood bank donors of both sexes with a similar age range whose samples were de-identified and sent to the lab. Patients were enrolled from May 2017 to July 2018 under a clinical research protocol 428 (NCT02656381), approved by the institutional review board of the National Institutes of Health. Informed consent (including publishing language as required by NIH IRB) were obtained from all subjects. The study adhered to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki.
Copyright
This is an open-access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication.
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