NF-kappa B-inducing kinase establishes self-tolerance in a thymic stroma-dependent manner |
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Authors: | Kajiura Fumiko Sun Shijie Nomura Takashi Izumi Keisuke Ueno Tomoo Bando Yoshimi Kuroda Noriyuki Han Hongwei Li Yi Matsushima Akemi Takahama Yousuke Sakaguchi Shimon Mitani Tasuku Matsumoto Mitsuru |
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Institution: | Department of Molecular and Environmental Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Tokushima, Tokushima, Japan. |
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Abstract: | Physical contact between thymocytes and the thymic stroma is essential for T cell maturation and shapes the T cell repertoire in the periphery. Stromal elements that control these processes still remain elusive. We used a mouse strain with mutant NF-kappaB-inducing kinase (NIK) to examine the mechanisms underlying the breakdown of self-tolerance. This NIK-mutant strain manifests autoimmunity and disorganized thymic structure with abnormal expression of Rel proteins in the stroma. Production of immunoregulatory T cells that control autoreactive T cells was impaired in NIK-mutant mice. The autoimmune disease seen in NIK-mutant mice was reproduced in athymic nude mice by grafting embryonic thymus from NIK-mutant mice, and this was rescued by supply of exogenous immunoregulatory T cells. Impaired production of immunoregulatory T cells by thymic stroma without normal NIK was associated with altered expression of peripheral tissue-restricted Ags, suggesting an essential role of NIK in the thymic microenvironment in the establishment of central tolerance. |
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