Project description:<p>Whole exome sequencing of a trio (parents and offspring) reveals PIK3CG mutations that result in loss of protein in the child with immunodeficiency and immunopathology.</p>
Project description:Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-gamma (PI3Kγ) is highly expressed in leukocytes and is an attractive drug target for immune modulation. Different experimental systems have led to conflicting conclusions regarding inflammatory and anti-inflammatory functions of PI3Kγ. Here, we report a human patient with bi-allelic, loss-of-function mutations in PIK3CG resulting in absence of the p110γ catalytic subunit of PI3Kγ. She has a history of childhood-onset antibody defects, cytopenias, and T lymphocytic pneumonitis and colitis, with reduced peripheral blood memory B, memory CD8+ T, and regulatory T cells and increased CXCR3+ tissue-homing CD4 T cells. PI3Kγ-deficient macrophages and monocytes produce elevated inflammatory IL-12 and IL-23 in a GSK3α/β-dependent manner upon TLR stimulation. Pik3cg-deficient mice recapitulate major features of human disease after exposure to natural microbiota through co-housing with pet-store mice. Together, our results emphasize the physiological importance of PI3Kγ in restraining inflammation and promoting appropriate adaptive immune responses in both humans and mice.
Project description:Clinically, obesity is strongly associated with severe TH2 immunopathology, though the physiological, cellular, and molecular underpinnings of this association remain obscure. We demonstrate that obese mice are susceptible to severe atopic dermatitis (AD), a major manifestation of TH2 immunopathology and disease burden in humans. Mechanistically, we show that dysregulation of the nuclear hormone receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARg) in T cells is a causal link between obesity and the increased TH2 immunopathology. We find that PPARg directly controls a cellular metabolic transcriptional program that restrains nuclear gene expression of the chief TH2 effector cytokines interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interleukin-13 (IL-13). Accordingly, thiazolidinediones (TZDs), potent PPARg agonists, robustly protect obese mice from TH2 immunopathology. Collectively, these findings establish PPARg as a molecular link between obesity and TH2 immune homeostasis and identify TZDs as novel therapeutic candidates for TH2 immunopathology.