Journal of Clinical Investigation最新文献

{"title":"Long non-coding RNA BCYRN1 promotes cardioprotection by enhancing human and murine regulatory T cell dynamics.","authors":"Ke Liao, Jiayi Yu, Akbarshakh Akhmerov, Zahra Mohammadigoldar, Liang Li, Weixin Liu, Natasha Anders, Ahmed G E Ibrahim, Eduardo Marbán","doi":"10.1172/JCI179262","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI179262","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Regulatory T (Treg) cells modulate immune responses and attenuate inflammation. Extracellular vesicles from human cardiosphere-derived cells (CDC-EVs) enhance Treg proliferation and IL10 production, but the mechanisms remain unclear. Here we focus on BCYRN1, a long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) highly abundant in CDC-EVs, and its role in Treg cell function. BCYRN1 acts as a \"microRNA sponge,\" inhibiting miR-138, miR-150, and miR-98. Suppression of these miRs leads to increased Treg cell proliferation via ATG7-dependent autophagy, CCR6-dependent Treg migration, and enhanced Treg IL10 production. In a mouse model of myocardial infarction, CDC-EVs, particularly those overexpressing BCYRN1, were cardioprotective, reducing infarct size and troponin I levels even when administered after reperfusion. Underlying the cardioprotection, we verified that CDC-EVs overexpressing BCYRN1 increased cardiac Treg infiltration, proliferation, and IL10 production in vivo. These salutary effects were negated when BCYRN1 levels were reduced in CDC-EVs, or when Tregs were depleted systemically. Thus, we have identified BCYRN1 as a booster of Treg number and bioactivity, rationalizing its cardioprotective efficacy. While here we studied BCYRN1 overexpression in the context of ischemic injury, the same approach merits testing in other disease processes (e.g., autoimmunity or transplant rejection) where increased Treg activity is a recognized therapeutic goal.</p>","PeriodicalId":15469,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Clinical Investigation","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143710184","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Induced clustering of SHP2-depleted tumor cells in vascular islands restores sensitivity to MEK/ERK inhibition.","authors":"Yuyi Wang, Hidetaka Ohnuki, Andy D Tran, Dunrui Wang, Taekyu Ha, Jing-Xin Feng, Minji Sim, Raymond Barnhill, Claire Lugassy, Michael R Sargen, Emanuel Salazar-Cavazos, Michael Kruhlak, Giovanna Tosato","doi":"10.1172/JCI181609","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI181609","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Allosteric inhibitors of the tyrosine phosphatase SHP2 hold therapeutic promise in cancers with overactive RAS/ERK signaling but \"adaptive resistance\" to SHP2 inhibitors may limit benefits. Here, we utilized tumor cells that proliferate similarly with or without endogenous SHP2 to explore means to overcome this growth-independence from SHP2. We found that SHP2 depletion profoundly alters output of vascular regulators, cytokines, chemokines, and other factors from SHP2 growth-resistant cancer cells. Tumors derived from inoculation of SHP2-depleted, but SHP2 growth-independent, mouse melanoma and colon carcinoma cell lines display a typically subverted architecture where proliferative tumor cells cluster in distinct \"vascular islands\" centered by remodeled vessels, each limited by surrounding hypoxic and dead tumor tissue, where inflammatory blood cells are limited. Although vascular islands generally reflect protected sanctuaries for tumor cells, we found that vascular island-resident, highly proliferative, SHP2-depleted tumor cells acquire an increased sensitivity to blocking MEK/ERK signaling resulting in reduced tumor growth. Our results show that response to targeted therapies in resistant tumor cells is controlled by tumor cell-induced vascular changes and tumor architectural reorganization providing a compelling approach to eliciting tumor response by exploiting tumor and endothelial-dependent biochemical changes.</p>","PeriodicalId":15469,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Clinical Investigation","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143710181","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Targeting legumain-mediated cell-cell interaction sensitizes glioblastoma to immunotherapy in preclinical models.","authors":"Lizhi Pang, Songlin Guo, Yuyun Huang, Fatima Khan, Yang Liu, Fei Zhou, Justin D Lathia, Peiwen Chen","doi":"10.1172/JCI186034","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI186034","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are the most prominent immune cell population in the glioblastoma (GBM) tumor microenvironment (TME) and play critical roles in promoting tumor progression and immunosuppression. Here we identified that TAM-derived legumain (LGMN) exhibited a dual role in regulating the biology of TAMs and GBM cells. LGMN promoted macrophage infiltration in a cell-autonomous manner by activating the GSK3b-STAT3 pathway. Moreover, TAM-derived LGMN activated the integrin aV-AKT-P65 signaling to drive GBM cell proliferation and survival. Targeting LGMN-directed macrophage (inhibiting GSK3b and STAT3) and GBM cell (inhibiting integrin aV) mechanisms resulted in an anti-tumor effect in immunocompetent GBM mouse models that was further enhanced when combined with anti-PD1 therapy. Our study reveals a paracrine and autocrine mechanism of TAM-derived LGMN in promoting GBM progression and immunosuppression, providing effective therapeutic targets for improving immunotherapy in GBM.</p>","PeriodicalId":15469,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Clinical Investigation","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143710256","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Erythrocyte-derived extracellular vesicles induce endothelial dysfunction through arginase-1 and oxidative stress in type 2 diabetes.","authors":"Aida Collado, Rawan Humoud, Eftychia Kontidou, Maria Eldh, Jasmin Swaich, Allan Zhao, Jiangning Yang, Tong Jiao, Elena Domingo, Emelie Carlestål, Ali Mahdi, John Tengbom, Ákos Végvári, Qiaolin Deng, Michael Alvarsson, Susanne Gabrielsson, Per Eriksson, Zhichao Zhou, John Pernow","doi":"10.1172/JCI180900","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI180900","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Red blood cells (RBCs) induce endothelial dysfunction in type 2 diabetes (T2D), but the mechanism by which RBCs communicate with the vessel is unknown. This study tested the hypothesis that extracellular vesicles (EVs) secreted by RBCs act as mediators of endothelial dysfunction in T2D. Despite a lower production of EVs derived from RBCs of T2D patients (T2D RBC-EVs), their uptake by endothelial cells was greater than that of EVs derived from RBCs of healthy individuals (H RBC-EVs). T2D RBC-EVs impaired endothelium-dependent relaxation and this effect was attenuated following inhibition of arginase in EVs. Inhibition of vascular arginase or oxidative stress also attenuated endothelial dysfunction induced by T2D RBC-EVs. Arginase-1 was detected in RBC-derived EVs, and arginase-1 and oxidative stress were increased in endothelial cells following co-incubation with T2D RBC-EVs. T2D RBC-EVs also increased arginase-1 protein in endothelial cells following mRNA silencing and in the endothelium of aortas from endothelial cell arginase 1 knockout mice. It is concluded that T2D-RBCs induce endothelial dysfunction through increased uptake of EVs that transfer arginase-1 from RBCs to the endothelium to induce oxidative stress and endothelial dysfunction. These results shed important light on the mechanism underlying endothelial injury mediated by RBCs in T2D.</p>","PeriodicalId":15469,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Clinical Investigation","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143663459","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"TP53 mutations and TET2 deficiency cooperate to drive leukemogenesis and establish an immunosuppressive environment.","authors":"Pu Zhang, Ethan C Whipp, Sarah J Skuli, Mehdi Gharghabi, Caner Saygin, Steven A Sher, Martin Carroll, Xiangyu Pan, Eric D Eisenmann, Tzung-Huei Lai, Bonnie K Harrington, Wing Keung Chan, Youssef Youssef, Bingyi Chen, Alex Penson, Alexander M Lewis, Cynthia R Castro, Nina Fox, Ali Cihan, Jean-Benoit Le Luduec, Susan DeWolf, Tierney Kauffman, Alice S Mims, Daniel Canfield, Hannah Phillips, Katie E Williams, Jami Shaffer, Arletta Lozanski, Tzyy-Jye Doong, Gerard Lozanski, Charlene Mao, Christopher J Walker, James S Blachly, Anthony F Daniyan, Lapo Alinari, Robert A Baiocchi, Yiping Yang, Nicole R Grieselhuber, Moray J Campbell, Sharyn D Baker, Bradley W Blaser, Omar Abdel-Wahab, Rosa Lapalombella","doi":"10.1172/JCI184021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI184021","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Mutations and deletions in TP53 are associated with adverse outcomes in patients with myeloid malignancies and developing improved therapies for TP53-mutant leukemias is of urgent need. Here we identify mutations in TET2 as the most common co-occurring mutation in TP53 mutant acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients. In mice, combined hematopoietic-specific deletion of TET2 and TP53 resulted in enhanced self-renewal compared to deletion of either gene alone. Tp53/Tet2 double knockout mice developed serially transplantable AML. Both mice and AML patients with combined TET2/TP53 alterations upregulated innate immune signaling in malignant granulocyte-monocyte progenitors (GMPs), which had leukemia-initiating capacity. A20 governs the leukemic maintenance by triggering aberrant non-canonical NF-κB signaling. Mice with Tp53/Tet2 loss had expansion of monocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), which impaired T cell proliferation and activation. Moreover, mice and AML patients with combined TP53/TET2 alterations displayed increased expression of the TIGIT ligand, CD155, on malignant cells. TIGIT blocking antibodies augmented NK cell-mediated killing of Tp53/Tet2 double-mutant AML cells, reduced leukemic burden, and prolonged survival in Tp53/Tet2 double knockout mice. These findings uncover a leukemia-promoting link between TET2 and TP53 mutations and highlight therapeutic strategies to overcome the immunosuppressive bone marrow environment in this adverse subtype of AML.</p>","PeriodicalId":15469,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Clinical Investigation","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143663510","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Gene-environment interaction modifies the association between hyperinsulinemia and serum urate levels through SLC22A12.","authors":"Wataru Fujii, Osamu Yamazaki, Daigoro Hirohama, Ken Kaseda, Emiko Kuribayashi-Okuma, Motonori Tsuji, Makoto Hosoyamada, Yuta Kochi, Shigeru Shibata","doi":"10.1172/JCI186633","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI186633","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance often accompany elevated serum urate levels (hyperuricemia), a highly heritable condition that triggers gout; however, the underlying mechanisms are unclear.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We evaluated the association between the index of hyperinsulinemia and the fractional excretion of urate (FEUA) in 162 outpatients. The underlying mechanisms were investigated through single-cell data analysis and kinase screening combined with cell culture experiments. In 377,358 participants of the UK Biobank (UKBB), we analyzed serum urate, hyperinsulinemia, and salt intake. We also examined gene-environment interactions using single nucleotide variants in SLC22A12, which encodes urate transporter 1 (URAT1).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The index of hyperinsulinemia was inversely associated with FEUA independently of other covariates. Mechanistically, URAT1 cell-surface abundance and urate transport activity were regulated by URAT1-Thr408 phosphorylation, which was stimulated by hyperinsulinemia via AKT. Kinase screening and single-cell data analysis revealed that SGK1, induced by high salt, activated the same pathway, increasing URAT1. Arg405 was essential for these kinases to phosphorylate URAT1-Thr408. In UKBB participants, hyperinsulinemia and high salt intake were independently associated with increased serum urate levels. We found that SLC22A12 eQTL rs475688 synergistically enhanced the positive association between serum urate and hyperinsulinemia.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>URAT1 mediates the association between hyperinsulinemia and hyperuricemia. Our data provide evidence for the role of gene-environment interactions in determining serum urate levels, paving the way for personalized management of hyperuricemia.</p><p><strong>Funding: </strong>ACRO Research Grants of Teikyo University; JSPS; the Japanese Society of Gout and Uric & Nucleic Acids; Fuji Yakuhin; Nanken-Kyoten; Medical Research Center Initiative for High Depth Omics.</p>","PeriodicalId":15469,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Clinical Investigation","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143657349","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Reactivation of CTLA4-expressing T cells Accelerates Resolution of Lung Fibrosis in a Humanized Mouse Model.","authors":"Santosh Yadav, Muralidharan Anbalagan, Shamima Khatun, Devadharshini Prabhakaran, Justin Manges, Yasuka Matsunaga, James B McLachlan, Joseph A Lasky, Jay Kolls, Victor J Thannickal","doi":"10.1172/JCI181775","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI181775","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Tissue regenerative responses involve complex interactions between resident structural and immune cells. Recent reports indicate that accumulation of senescent cells during injury repair contributes to pathological tissue fibrosis. Using tissue-based spatial transcriptomics and proteomics, we identified upregulation of the immune checkpoint protein, cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated protein 4 (CTLA4) on CD8+ T cells adjacent to regions of active fibrogenesis in human idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and in a murine model of repetitive bleomycin lung injury model of persistent fibrosis. In humanized CTLA4 knock-in mice, treatment with ipilimumab, an FDA-approved drug that targets CTLA4, resulted in accelerated lung epithelial regeneration and diminished fibrosis from repetitive bleomycin injury. Ipilimumab treatment resulted in the expansion of Cd3e+ T cells, diminished accumulation of senescent cells, and robust expansion of type 2 alveolar epithelial cells, facultative progenitor cells of the alveolar epithelium. Ex-vivo activation of isolated CTLA4-expressing CD8+ cells from mice with established fibrosis resulted in enhanced cytolysis of senescent cells, suggesting that impaired immune-mediated clearance of these cells contribute to persistence of lung fibrosis in this murine model. Our studies support the concept that endogenous immune surveillance of senescent cells may be essential in promoting tissue regenerative responses that facilitate the resolution of fibrosis.</p>","PeriodicalId":15469,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Clinical Investigation","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143657358","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Disrupted Minor Intron Splicing Activates Reductive Carboxylation-mediated Lipogenesis to Drive Metabolic Dysfunction-associated Steatotic Liver Disease Progression.","authors":"Yinkun Fu, Xin Peng, Hongyong Song, Xiaoyun Li, Yang Zhi, Jieting Tang, Yifan Liu, Ding Chen, Wenyan Li, Jing Zhang, Jing Ma, Ming He, Yimin Mao, Xu-Yun Zhao","doi":"10.1172/JCI186478","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI186478","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Aberrant RNA splicing is tightly linked to diseases, including metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). Here, we revealed that minor intron splicing, a unique and conserved RNA processing event, is largely disrupted upon the progression of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) in mice and humans. We demonstrated deficiency of minor intron splicing in the liver induces MASH transition upon obesity-induced insulin resistance and LXR activation. Mechanistically, inactivation of minor intron splicing leads to minor intron retention of Insig1 and Insig2, resulting in premature termination of translation, which drives proteolytic activation of SREBP1c. This mechanism is conserved in human patients with MASH. Notably, disrupted minor intron splicing activates glutamine reductive metabolism for de novo lipogenesis through the induction of Idh1, which causes the accumulation of ammonia in the liver, thereby initiating hepatic fibrosis upon LXR activation. Ammonia clearance or IDH1 inhibition blocks hepatic fibrogenesis and mitigates MASH progression. More importantly, the overexpression of Zrsr1 restored minor intron retention and ameliorated the development of MASH, indicating that dysfunctional minor intron splicing is an emerging pathogenic mechanism that drives MASH progression. Additionally, reductive carboxylation flux triggered by minor intron retention in hepatocytes serves as a crucial checkpoint and potential target for MASH therapy.</p>","PeriodicalId":15469,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Clinical Investigation","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143657346","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Maintenance of graft tissue-resident Foxp3+ cells is necessary for lung transplant tolerance in mice.","authors":"Wenjun Li, Yuriko Terada, Yun Zhu Bai, Yuhei Yokoyama, Hailey M Shepherd, Junedh M Amrute, Amit I Bery, Zhiyi Liu, Jason M Gauthier, Marina Terekhova, Ankit Bharat, Jon H Ritter, Varun Puri, Ramsey R Hachem, Hēth R Turnquist, Peter T Sage, Alessandro Alessandrini, Maxim N Artyomov, Kory J Lavine, Ruben G Nava, Alexander S Krupnick, Andrew E Gelman, Daniel Kreisel","doi":"10.1172/JCI178975","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI178975","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Mechanisms that mediate allograft tolerance differ between organs. We have previously shown that Foxp3+ T cell-enriched bronchus-associated lymphoid tissue (BALT) is induced in tolerant murine lung allografts and that these Foxp3+ cells suppress alloimmune responses locally and systemically. Here, we demonstrated that Foxp3+ cells that reside in tolerant lung allografts differed phenotypically and transcriptionally from those in the periphery and were clonally expanded. Using a mouse lung re-transplant model, we showed that recipient Foxp3+ cells were continuously recruited to the BALT within tolerant allografts. We identified distinguishing features of graft-resident and newly recruited Foxp3+ cells and showed that graft-infiltrating Foxp3+ cells acquired transcriptional profiles resembling those of graft-resident Foxp3+ cells over time. Allografts underwent combined antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) and acute cellular rejection (ACR) when recruitment of recipient Foxp3+ cells was prevented. Finally, we showed that local administration of IL-33 could expand and activate allograft-resident Foxp3+ cells providing a platform for the design of tolerogenic therapies for lung transplant recipients. Our findings establish graft-resident Foxp3+ cells as critical orchestrators of lung transplant tolerance and highlight the need to develop lung-specific immunosuppression.</p>","PeriodicalId":15469,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Clinical Investigation","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143657353","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"AMPK is necessary for Treg functional adaptation to microenvironmental stress during malignancy and viral pneumonia.","authors":"Manuel A Torres Acosta, Jonathan K Gurkan, Qianli Liu, Nurbek Mambetsariev, Carla Reyes Flores, Kathryn A Helmin, Anthony M Joudi, Luisa Morales-Nebreda, Kathleen Cheng, Hiam Abdala-Valencia, Samuel E Weinberg, Benjamin D Singer","doi":"10.1172/JCI179572","DOIUrl":"10.1172/JCI179572","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>CD4+FOXP3+ regulatory T (Treg) cells maintain self-tolerance, suppress the immune response to cancer, and protect against tissue injury during acute inflammation. Treg cells require mitochondrial metabolism to function, but how Treg cells adapt their metabolic programs to optimize their function during an immune response occurring in a metabolically stressed microenvironment remains unclear. Here, we tested whether Treg cells require the energy homeostasis-maintaining enzyme AMPK to adapt to metabolically aberrant microenvironments caused by malignancy or lung injury, finding that AMPK is dispensable for Treg cell immune-homeostatic function but is necessary for full Treg cell function in B16 melanoma tumors and during influenza virus pneumonia. AMPK-deficient Treg cells had lower mitochondrial mass and exhibited an impaired ability to maximize aerobic respiration. Mechanistically, we found that AMPK regulates DNA methyltransferase 1 to promote transcriptional programs associated with mitochondrial function in the tumor microenvironment. During viral pneumonia, we found that AMPK sustains metabolic homeostasis and mitochondrial activity. Induction of DNA hypomethylation was sufficient to rescue mitochondrial mass in AMPK-deficient Treg cells, linking AMPK function to mitochondrial metabolism via DNA methylation. These results define AMPK as a determinant of Treg cell adaptation to metabolic stress and offer potential therapeutic targets in cancer and tissue injury.</p>","PeriodicalId":15469,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Clinical Investigation","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143657330","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}