AMIGO2 modulates T cell functions and its deficiency in mice ameliorates experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis

  • Brain Behav Immun. 2017 May;62:110-123. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2017.01.009.
Zhilin Li  1 ,  Mohd Moin Khan  2 ,  Juha Kuja-Panula  3 ,  Hongyun Wang  4 ,  Yu Chen  5 ,  Deyin Guo  6 ,  Zhi Jane Chen  7 ,  Riitta Lahesmaa  8 ,  Heikki Rauvala  9 ,  Li Tian  10
Affiliations
  • 1. Neuroscience Center, Helsinki Institute of Life Science (HiLIFE), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 2. Turku Centre for Biotechnology, University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 3. Neuroscience Center, Helsinki Institute of Life Science (HiLIFE), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 4. College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 5. College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 6. College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China; School of Basic Medical Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 7. Turku Centre for Biotechnology, University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 8. Turku Centre for Biotechnology, University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 9. Neuroscience Center, Helsinki Institute of Life Science (HiLIFE), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 10. Neuroscience Center, Helsinki Institute of Life Science (HiLIFE), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; Psychiatry Research Center, Beijing Huilongguan Hospital, Peking University, Beijing, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
PMID: 28119027 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2017.01.009
Abstract

The immune function of AMIGO2 is currently unknown. Here, we revealed novel roles of AMIGO2 in modulating T-cell functions and EAE using Amigo2-knockout (AMG2KO) mice. Amigo2 was abundantly expressed by murine T helper (Th) cells. Its deficiency impaired transplanted T-cell infiltration into the secondary lymphoid organs and dampened Th-cell activation, but promoted splenic Th-cell proliferation and abundancy therein. AMG2KO Th cells had respectively elevated T-bet in Th1- and GATA-3 in Th2-lineage during early Th-cell differentiation, accompanied with increased IFN-γ and IL-10 but decreased IL-17A production. AMG2KO mice exhibited ameliorated EAE, dampened spinal T-cell accumulation, decreased serum IL-17A levels and enhanced splenic IL-10 production. Adoptive transfer of encephalitogenic AMG2KO T cells induced milder EAE and dampened spinal Th-cell accumulation and Tnf expression. Mechanistically, Amigo2-overexpression in 293T cells dampened NF-kB transcriptional activity, while Amigo2-deficiency enhanced Akt but suppressed GSK-3β phosphorylation and promoted nuclear translocations of NF-kB and NFAT1 in Th-cells. Collectively, our data demonstrate that AMIGO2 is important in regulating T-cell functions and EAE, and may be harnessed as a potential therapeutic target for Multiple Sclerosis.

Keywords
AMIGO2; Akt; EAE; GATA-3; GSK-3β; MS; NF-kB; NFAT1; T-bet.
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