Correction of Defective T-Regulatory Cells From Patients With Crohn's Disease by Ex Vivo Ligation of Retinoic Acid Receptor-α

Rimma Goldberg, Cristiano Scotta, Dianne Cooper, Einat Nissim-Eliraz, Eilam Nir, Scott Tasker, Peter M. Irving, Jeremy Sanderson, Paul Lavender, Fowzia Ibrahim, Jonathan Corcoran, Toby Prevost, Nahum Y. Shpigel, Federica Marelli-Berg, Giovanna Lombardi, Graham M. Lord*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

35 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background & Aims: Crohn's disease (CD) is characterized by an imbalance of effector and regulatory T cells in the intestinal mucosa. The efficacy of anti-adhesion therapies led us to investigate whether impaired trafficking of T-regulatory (Treg) cells contributes to the pathogenesis of CD. We also investigated whether proper function could be restored to Treg cells by ex vivo expansion in the presence of factors that activate their regulatory activities. Methods: We measured levels of the integrin α4β7 on Treg cells isolated from peripheral blood or lamina propria of patients with CD and healthy individuals (controls). Treg cells were expanded ex vivo and incubated with rapamycin with or without agonists of the retinoic acid receptor-α (RARA), and their gene expression profiles were analyzed. We also studied the cells in cytokine challenge, suppression, and flow chamber assays and in SCID mice with human intestinal xenografts. Results: We found that Treg cells from patients with CD express lower levels of the integrin α4β7 than Treg cells from control patients. The pathway that regulates the expression of integrin subunit α is induced by retinoic acid (RA). Treg cells from patients with CD incubated with rapamycin and an agonist of RARA (RAR568) expressed high levels of integrin α4β7, as well as CD62L and FOXP3, compared with cells incubated with rapamycin or rapamycin and all-trans retinoic acid. These Treg cells had increased suppressive activities in assays and migrated under conditions of shear flow; they did not produce inflammatory cytokines, and RAR568 had no effect on cell stability or lineage commitment. Fluorescently labeled Treg cells incubated with RAR568 were significantly more likely to traffic to intestinal xenografts than Treg cells expanded in control medium. Conclusions: Treg cells from patients with CD express lower levels of the integrin α4β7 than Treg cells from control patients. Incubation of patients’ ex vivo expanded Treg cells with rapamycin and an RARA agonist induced expression of α4β7 and had suppressive and migratory activities in culture and in intestinal xenografts in mice. These cells might be developed for treatment of CD. ClinicalTrials.gov, Number: NCT03185000.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1775-1787
Number of pages13
JournalGastroenterology
Volume156
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2019

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 AGA Institute

Keywords

  • Cell Therapy
  • IBD
  • Immune Regulation
  • Tissue Engineering

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