Cutting edge: 2B4-mediated coinhibition of CD4+ T cells underlies mortality in experimental sepsis

C Chen, R Mittal, NJ Klingensmith, EM Burd… - The Journal of …, 2017 - journals.aai.org
C Chen, R Mittal, NJ Klingensmith, EM Burd, C Terhorst, GS Martin, CM Coopersmith…
The Journal of Immunology, 2017journals.aai.org
Sepsis is a leading cause of death in the United States, but the mechanisms underlying
sepsis-induced immune dysregulation remain poorly understood. 2B4 (CD244, SLAM4) is a
cosignaling molecule expressed predominantly on NK cells and memory CD8+ T cells that
has been shown to regulate T cell function in models of viral infection and autoimmunity. In
this article, we show that 2B4 signaling mediates sepsis lymphocyte dysfunction and
mortality. 2B4 expression is increased on CD4+ T cells in septic animals and human …
Abstract
Sepsis is a leading cause of death in the United States, but the mechanisms underlying sepsis-induced immune dysregulation remain poorly understood. 2B4 (CD244, SLAM4) is a cosignaling molecule expressed predominantly on NK cells and memory CD8+ T cells that has been shown to regulate T cell function in models of viral infection and autoimmunity. In this article, we show that 2B4 signaling mediates sepsis lymphocyte dysfunction and mortality. 2B4 expression is increased on CD4+ T cells in septic animals and human patients at early time points. Importantly, genetic loss or pharmacologic inhibition of 2B4 significantly increased survival in a murine cecal ligation and puncture model. Further, CD4-specific conditional knockouts showed that 2B4 functions on CD4+ T cell populations in a cell-intrinsic manner and modulates adaptive and innate immune responses during sepsis. Our results illuminate a novel role for 2B4 coinhibitory signaling on CD4+ T cells in mediating immune dysregulation.
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