Immune homeostasis in tissues is achieved through a delicate balance between pathogenic T cell responses directed at tissue-specific antigens and the ability of the tissue to inhibit these responses. The mechanisms by which tissues and the immune system communicate to establish and maintain immune homeostasis are currently unknown. Clinical evidence suggests that chronic or repeated exposure to self antigen within tissues leads to an attenuation of pathologic autoimmune responses, possibly as a means to mitigate inflammatory damage and preserve function. Many human organ-specific autoimmune diseases are characterized by the initial presentation of the disease being the most severe, with subsequent flares being of lesser severity and duration1. In fact, these diseases often spontaneously resolve, despite persistent tissue autoantigen expression2. In the practice of antigen-specific immunotherapy (antigen-SIT), allergens or self antigens are repeatedly injected in the skin, with a diminution of the inflammatory response occurring after each successive exposure3. Although these findings suggest that tissues acquire the ability to attenuate autoimmune reactions upon repeated responses to antigens, the mechanism by which this occurs is unknown. Here we show that upon expression of self antigen in a peripheral tissue, thymus-derived regulatory T cells (Treg cells) become activated, proliferate and differentiate into more potent suppressors, which mediate resolution of organ-specific autoimmunity. After resolution of the inflammatory response, activated Treg cells are maintained in the target tissue and are primed to attenuate subsequent autoimmune reactions when antigen is re-expressed. Thus, Treg cells function to confer ‘regulatory memory’ to the target tissue. These findings provide a framework for understanding how Treg cells respond when exposed to self antigen in peripheral tissues and offer mechanistic insight into how tissues regulate autoimmunity.

SUMMARY Damage-associated microglia (DAM) profiles observed in Alzheimer’s disease (AD)-related mouse models reflect an activation state that could modulate AD risk or progression. To learn whether human AD microglia (HAM) display a similar profile, we develop a method for purifying cell types from frozen cerebrocortical tissues for RNA-seq analysis, allowing better transcriptome coverage than typical single-nucleus RNA-seq approaches. The HAM profile we observe bears little resemblance to the DAM profile. Instead, HAM display an enhanced human aging profile, in addition to other disease-related changes such as APOE upregulation. Analyses of whole-tissue RNA-seq and single-cell/nucleus RNA-seq datasets corroborate our findings and suggest that the lack of DAM response in human microglia occurs specifically in AD tissues, not other neurodegenerative settings. These results, which can be browsed at http://research-pub.gene.com/BrainMyeloidLandscape , provide a genome-wide picture of microglial activation in human AD and highlight considerable differences between mouse models and human disease.

Autoimmune diseases are caused by immune cells attacking the host tissues they are supposed to protect. Recent advances suggest that maintaining a balance of effector and regulatory immune function is critical for avoiding autoimmunity. New therapies, including costimulation blockade, regulatory T cell therapy, antigen-specific immunotherapy, and manipulating the interleukin-2 pathway, attempt to restore this balance. This review discusses these advances as well as the challenges that must be overcome to target these therapies to patients suffering from autoimmune disease while avoiding the pitfalls of general immunosuppression.

Immune homeostasis in peripheral tissues is achieved by maintaining a balance between pathogenic effector T cells (Teff) and protective Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Treg). Using a mouse model of an inducible tissue-antigen we demonstrate that antigen (Ag) persistence is a major determinant of the relative frequencies of Teff and Treg cells. Encounter of transferred naïve CD4+ T cells with transiently expressed tissue-Ag leads to generation of cytokine-producing Teff cells and peripheral Treg cells. Persistent expression of Ag, a mimic of self Ag, leads to functional inactivation and loss of the Teff cells with preservation of Treg in the target tissue. The inactivation of Teff cells by persistent Ag is associated with reduced ERK phosphorylation (pERK), whereas Treg cells show less reduction in pERK and are relatively resistant to ERK inhibition. Our studies reveal a crucial role for Ag in maintaining appropriate ratios of Ag-specific Teff to Treg cells in tissues.

Psoriasis is a chronic, inflammatory skin disease caused by a combination of environmental and genetic factors. The Tnip1 gene encodes ABIN-1 (A20 Binding and Inhibitor of NFκB-1) protein and is strongly associated with susceptibility to psoriasis in humans. ABIN-1, a widely expressed ubiquitin binding protein, restricts TNF and TLR induced signals. We report here that mice lacking ABIN-1 specifically in dendritic cells (DCs), ABIN-1Flox CD11c-Cre mice, exhibit perturbed immune homeostasis. ABIN-1 deficient DCs display exaggerated NFκB and MAP kinase signaling and produce more IL-23 than normal cells in response to TLR ligands. Challenge of ABIN-1Flox CD11c-Cre mice with topical TLR7 ligand leads to greater numbers of TH17 and TCRγδ T cells and exacerbated development of psoriaform lesions. These phenotypes are reversed by DC-specific deletion of the TLR adaptor MyD88. These studies link ABIN-1 with IL-23 and IL-17, and provide cellular and molecular mechanisms by which ABIN-1 regulates susceptibility to psoriasis.