We show that a combination of the immunosuppressive drugs, vitamin D3 and Dexamethasone, induced human and mouse naive CD4+ T cells to differentiate in vitro into regulatory T cells. In contrast to the previously described in vitro derived CD4+ T cells, these cells produced only interleukin (IL)-10, but no IL-5 and interferon (IFN)-γ, and furthermore retained strong proliferative capacity. The development of these IL-10–producing cells was enhanced by neutralization of the T helper type 1 (Th1)- and Th2–inducing cytokines IL-4, IL-12, and IFN-γ. These immunosuppressive drugs also induced the development of IL-10–producing T cells in the absence of antigen-presenting cells, with IL-10 acting as a positive autocrine factor for these T cells. Furthermore, nuclear factor (NF)-κB and activator protein (AP)-1 activities were inhibited in the IL-10–producing cells described here as well as key transcription factors involved in Th1 and Th2 subset differentiation. The regulatory function of these in vitro generated IL-10–producing T cells was demonstrated by their ability to prevent central nervous system inflammation, when targeted to the site of inflammation, and this function was shown to be IL-10 dependent. Generating homogeneous populations of IL-10–producing T cells in vitro will thus facilitate the use of regulatory T cells in immunotherapy.

1α,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 (vitD3) is an immunoregulatory hormone with beneficial effects on Th1 mediated autoimmune diseases. Although the inhibitory effects of vitD3 on macrophages and dendritic cells are well documented, any direct effects of vitD3 on Th cell development are not clearly defined. Using CD4+Mel14+ T cells derived from mice on a BALB/c and a C57BL/6 genetic background we examined the effect of vitD3 on Th cell development. We demonstrated that vitD3 affects Th cell polarization by inhibiting Th1 (IFN-γ production) and augmenting Th2 cell development (IL-4, IL-5, and IL-10 production). These effects were observed in cultures driven with splenic APC and Ag, as well as with anti-CD3 and anti-CD28 alone, indicating that CD4+ cells can also be direct targets for vitD3. The enhanced Th2 development by vitD3 was found in both BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice. An increased expression of the Th2-specific transcription factors GATA-3 and c-maf correlated with the increased production of Th2 cytokines after vitD3 treatment. The vitD3-induced effects were largely mediated via IL-4, because neutralization of IL-4 almost completely abrogated the augmented Th2 cell development after vitD3 treatment. These findings suggest that vitD3 acts directly on Th cells and can, in the absence of APC, enhance the development of a Th2 phenotype and augment the expression of the transcription factors c-maf and GATA-3. Our findings suggest that the beneficial effects of vitD3 in autoimmune diseases and transplantation operate through prevention of strong Th1 responses via the action on the APC, while simultaneously directly acting on the T cell to enhance Th2 cell development.

Distinct dendritic cell (DC) subsets have been suggested to be preprogrammed to direct either T helper cell (Th) type 1 or Th2 development, although more recently different pathogen products or stimuli have been shown to render these DCs more flexible. It is still unclear how distinct mouse DC subsets cultured from bone marrow precursors, blood, or their lymphoid tissue counterparts direct Th differentiation. We show that mouse myeloid and plasmacytoid precursor DCs (pDCs) cultured from bone marrow precursors and ex vivo splenic DC subsets can induce the development of both Th1 and Th2 effector cells depending on the dose of antigen. In general, high antigen doses induced Th1 cell development whereas low antigen doses induced Th2 cell development. Both cultured and ex vivo splenic plasmacytoid-derived DCs enhanced CD4+ T cell proliferation and induced strong Th1 cell development when activated with the Toll-like receptor (TLR)9 ligand CpG, and not with the TLR4 ligand lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The responsiveness of plasmacytoid pDCs to CpG correlated with high TLR9 expression similarly to human plasmacytoid pDCs. Conversely, myeloid DCs generated with granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor enhanced Th1 cell development when stimulated with LPS as a result of their high level of TLR4 expression. Polarized Th1 responses resulting from high antigen dose were not additionally enhanced by stimulation of DCs by TLR ligands. Thus, the net effect of antigen dose, the state of maturation of the DCs together with the stimulation of DCs by pathogen-derived products, will determine whether a Th1 or Th2 response develops.

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TGF‐β plays an important role in immune regulation in vivo and affects T cell differentiation in vitro. Here we describe how TGF‐β modulates Th2 development in vitro and investigate its mechanisms of action. TGF‐β down‐regulated Th2 development of naive CD4+ Mel‐14high T cells derived from the DO11.10 ovalbumin‐specific TCR‐transgenic mouse, and this was observed both in cultures driven with anti‐CD3 and anti‐CD28 and with splenic APC and antigen. TGF‐β down‐regulated GATA‐3 expression in developing Th2 and these cells showed a diminished IL‐4‐induced STAT6 activation. We found, however, that naive cells driven in Th2 conditions with TGF‐β did not show a significantly decreased STAT6 activation, suggesting that TGF‐β inhibits Th2 development via a STAT6‐independent mechanism.