mTOR is critical for intestinal T-cell homeostasis and resistance to Citrobacter rodentium.

Journal Article (Journal Article)

T-cells play an important role in promoting mucosal immunity against pathogens, but the mechanistic basis for their homeostasis in the intestine is still poorly understood. We report here that T-cell-specific deletion of mTOR results in dramatically decreased CD4 and CD8 T-cell numbers in the lamina propria of both small and large intestines under both steady-state and inflammatory conditions. These defects result in defective host resistance against a murine enteropathogen, Citrobacter rodentium, leading to the death of the animals. We further demonstrated that mTOR deficiency reduces the generation of gut-homing effector T-cells in both mesenteric lymph nodes and Peyer's patches without obviously affecting expression of gut-homing molecules on those effector T-cells. Using mice with T-cell-specific ablation of Raptor/mTORC1 or Rictor/mTORC2, we revealed that both mTORC1 and, to a lesser extent, mTORC2 contribute to both CD4 and CD8 T-cell accumulation in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Additionally, mTORC1 but not mTORC2 plays an important role regulating the proliferative renewal of both CD4 and CD8 T-cells in the intestines. Our data thus reveal that mTOR is crucial for T-cell accumulation in the GI tract and for establishing local adaptive immunity against pathogens.

Full Text

Duke Authors

Cited Authors

  • Lin, X; Yang, J; Wang, J; Huang, H; Wang, H-X; Chen, P; Wang, S; Pan, Y; Qiu, Y-R; Taylor, GA; Vallance, BA; Gao, J; Zhong, X-P

Published Date

  • October 12, 2016

Published In

Volume / Issue

  • 6 /

Start / End Page

  • 34939 -

PubMed ID

  • 27731345

Pubmed Central ID

  • PMC5059740

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 2045-2322

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1038/srep34939

Language

  • eng

Conference Location

  • England