Ligands and Cofactors Required for RORgt Function in the Immune System

孤儿核受体RORyt在免疫系统发育、体内平衡和对微生物病原体的反应中起着关键作用。该转录因子仅在淋巴系细胞中表达，包括未成熟胸腺细胞、淋巴组织诱导剂（Lti）细胞和产生炎症细胞因子IL-17 （Th17细胞）的T辅助细胞。RORyt在这些细胞中都有重要的功能。它是CD4+8+胸腺细胞存活所必需的，因此，选择合适的T细胞库；它对Lti细胞的分化至关重要，从而诱导胎儿的淋巴结和Peyer's斑块的形成，以及出生后肠内的隐斑和分离淋巴滤泡的形成；它是Th17细胞从初始CD4+ T淋巴细胞分化所必需的。Th17细胞最近被证明是几种小鼠自身免疫模型中疾病的主要介质，并且越来越多的证据表明它们在人类中具有类似的作用。我们发现，T细胞中RORyt的缺失导致IL-17产生减少，以响应相关细胞因子，并导致肠固有层中大多数Th17细胞的丢失，而肠道固有层通常是Th17细胞最丰富的地方。此外，缺乏RORyt的小鼠对几种自身免疫性疾病的诱导具有难治性。这些发现表明，RORyt可能是多种炎症条件下药物干预的一个有吸引力的靶点。

The orphan nuclear receptor RORyt has critical roles in immune system development, homeostasis, and responses to microbial pathogens. This transcription factor is expressed only in lymphoid lineage cells, including immature thymocytes, lymphoid tissue inducer (Lti) cells, and T helper cells that produce the inflammatory cytokine IL-17 (Th17 cells). RORyt has essential functions in each of these cells. It is required for the survival of CD4+8+ thymocytes and, hence, for the selection of an appropriate T cell repertoire; it is essential for the differentiation of Lti cells that induce formation of lymph nodes and Peyer's patches in the fetus and of cryptopatches and isolated lymphoid follicles in the post-natal intestine; and it is required for the differentiation of Th17 cells from naive CD4+ T lymphocytes. Th17 cells have recently been shown to be major mediators of disease in several models for autoimmunity in the mouse, and there is accumulating evidence that they have similar roles in humans. We found the absence of RORyt in T cells results in reduced IL-17 production in response to relevant cytokines and in the loss of most Th17 cells in the intestinal lamina propria, where they are normally most abundant. In addition, mice lacking RORyt are refractory to the induction of several autoimmune diseases. These findings suggest that RORyt may be an attractive target for pharmacological intervention in multiple inflammatory conditions. Our understanding of the mechanism of action of RORyt is currently limited, and little is known about how its transcriptional activity is regulated. There is compelling evidence that RORyt, like other nuclear receptors, is regulated by binding of a ligand. In preliminary studies, we have shown that mutations in the putative ligand binding domain abrogate the ability of RORyt to induce transcriptional activity or to direct cytokine gene expression in T cells. We have found that RORyt has transcriptional activity in Drosophila S2 cells, and have exploited this observation to perform a genome-wide RNA interference screen. This screen has been complemented by studies with overexpression or RNAi knockdown of genes involved in lipid biosynthetic pathways that have pointed us towards candidate ligands. Based on these findings and on other preliminary studies, we propose the following aims: (1) to further characterize biosynthetic pathways to pinpoint enzymes involved in generation of a RORyt ligand, using both mammalian and insect cell-based systems; (2) to validate candidate ligands using both biochemical/biophysical (e.g., binding assays and co-crystal structures) and functional approaches (e.g. mouse and human Th17 cell polarization); and (3) to characterize other factors that influence RORyt transcriptional activity, including mouse and human orthologs of genes identified in the Drosophila RNAi screen and molecules identified by co-immunoprecipitation of complexes and by interaction screening with appropriate libraries in yeast. Together, these studies will provide a better understanding of the mechanism of action of RORyt and will facilitate new strategies for therapy in autoimmune diseases.