Rap1-GTP Promotes the Generation of Regulatory T Cells in Vivo.

Elucidating the mechanisms that regulate T cell activation and tolerance in vivo will provide insights into the maintenance of physiologic homeostasis and will facilitate development novel strategies for induction of transplantation tolerance. Transient activation of the small GTPase Rap1 is one of the physiologic consequences of TCR ligation and is mandatory for β1 and β2 integrin-mediated adhesion. In contrast, sustained increase of active Rap1 inhibits T cell activation and IL-2 transcription in vitro. In order to understand the role of Rap1 in the immune responses of the intact host we generated transgenic (Tg) mice, which express the active Rap1 mutant Rap1E63 in T cells. Rap1E63-Tg mice had no defects in thymocyte development or maturation. Rap1E63-Tg thymocytes were capable of activating Ras and Erk1/2 and, compared to wild type (WT) thymocytes, displayed enhanced LFA-1:ICAM-1-mediated adhesion and increased proliferation in response to anti-CD3. Surprisingly, although lymph node and splenic CD4⁺ cells from the Rap1E63-Tg mice also displayed increased LFA-1:ICAM-1-mediated adhesion, they had significantly impaired activation of Erk1/2 and dramatically reduced proliferation and IL-2 production in response to anti-CD3 and WT antigen presenting cells (APC). The defective responses of CD4⁺ T cells suggest that Rap1E63-Tg mice may have impaired helper function in vivo. To address this issue we immunized Rap1E63-Tg and WT mice with TNP-OVA, a T-cell dependent antigen. Total IgG, IgG1 and IgG2a were dramatically reduced, indicating that Rap1E63-Tg mice had a defect in immunoglobulin class switching, consistent with defective helper T cell-dependent B cell activation. Because these results suggest that Rap1E63-Tg CD4⁺ cells may have an anergic phenotype, we tested rechallenge responses. We immunized Rap1E63-Tg and WT mice with TNP-OVA in vivo and subsequently we rechallenged T cells in vitro with WT APC pulsed with OVA. Compared with WT, Rap1E63-Tg T cells had dramatically reduced proliferation, IFN- γ and IL-2 production on rechallenge, findings consistent with T cell anergy. Using suppression subtraction hybridization we determined that Rap1E63 induced mRNA expression of CD103, a marker that defines a potent subset of regulatory T cells (Treg). Strikingly, Rap1E63-Tg mice had a 5-fold increase of CD103⁺CD25⁺CD4⁺ Treg compared to WT mice. Rap1E63-Tg CD103⁺CD25⁺CD4⁺ Treg expressed the highest level of Foxp3 among all T cell subsets and had the most potent inhibitory effect on proliferation and IL-2 production when added into cultures of WT CD4⁺CD25⁻ cells. Importantly, removal of the CD103⁺ cells significantly restored Erk1/2 activation, proliferation and IL-2 production of Rap1E63-Tg CD4⁺ T cells. Generation of CD103⁺ Treg occurs after thymic development and requires encounter of peripheral autoantigen. Consistent with this, differences in CD103⁺ Treg were detected only between lymph node and splenic cells and not between thymocytes from Rap1E63-Tg and WT mice. Since generation of CD103⁺ Treg depends on the strength of TCR signal, these results suggest that by enhancing adhesion, active Rap1 regulates the generation of Treg. Moreover, these results provide evidence that active Rap1 is a potent negative regulator of immune responses in vivo and have significant implications for the development of immune-based therapies geared towards tolerance induction.