Although different autoimmune diseases show discrete clinical features, there are common molecular pathways intimately involved. Here we show that miR-125a is downregulated in peripheral CD4+ T cells of human autoimmune diseases including systemic lupus erythematosus and Crohn’s disease, and relevant autoimmune mouse models. miR-125a stabilizes both the commitment and immunoregulatory capacity of Treg cells. In miR-125a-deficient mice, the balance appears to shift from immune suppression to inflammation, and results in more severe pathogenesis of colitis and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). The genome-wide target analysis reveals that miR-125a suppresses several effector T-cell factors including Stat3, Ifng and Il13. Using a chemically synthesized miR-125a analogue, we show potential to re-programme the immune homeostasis in EAE models. These findings point to miR-125a as a critical factor that controls autoimmune diseases by stabilizing Treg-mediated immune homeostasis. Compromised function of regulatory T cells can lead to autoimmunity. Here the authors show that miR-125a stabilizes regulatory T-cell function and is downregulated in lupus and Crohn’s disease, as well as autoimmune mouse models, and that a chemical miR-125a analogue reverts established disease in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis.
MiR-125a targets effector programs to stabilize Treg-mediated immune homeostasis
Wen Pan,Shu Zhu,Zheng Liu,Dan Li,Bin Li,N. Gagliani,Yunjiang Zheng,Yuanjia Tang,M. Weirauch,Xiaoting Chen,Wei Zhu,Yue Wang,Bo Chen,Youcun Qian,Yingxuan Chen,Jingyuan Fang,R. Herbst,L. Richman,B. Jallal,J. Harley,R. Flavell,Yihong Yao,N. Shen
Published 2015 in Nature Communications
ABSTRACT
PUBLICATION RECORD
- Publication year
2015
- Venue
Nature Communications
- Publication date
2015-05-12
- Fields of study
Biology, Medicine
- Identifiers
- External record
- Source metadata
Semantic Scholar, PubMed
CITATION MAP
EXTRACTION MAP
CLAIMS
- No claims are published for this paper.
CONCEPTS
- No concepts are published for this paper.
REFERENCES
Showing 1-49 of 49 references · Page 1 of 1