Regulatory T cells control strain specific resistance to Experimental Autoimmune Prostatitis

BRESER, MARIA L.; LINO, ANDREIA C.; MOTRICH, RUBEN D.; GODOY, GLORIA J.; DEMENGEOT, JOCELYNE; RIVERO, VIRGINIA E.

Scientific Reports

Nature Publishing Group

Año: 2016 vol. 6

usceptibility to autoimmune diseases results from the encounter of a complex and long evolved genetic context with a no less complex and changing environment. Major actors in maintaining health are regulatory T cells (Treg) that primarily dampen a large subset of autoreactive lymphocytes escaping thymic negative selection. Here, we directly asked whether Treg participate in defining susceptibility and resistance to Experimental Autoimmune Prostatitis (EAP). We analyzed three common laboratory strains of mice presenting with different susceptibility to autoimmune prostatitis upon immunization with prostate proteins. The NOD, the C57BL/6 and the BALB/c mice that can be classified along a disease score ranging from severe, mild and to undetectable, respectively. Upon mild and transient depletion of Treg at the induction phase of EAP, each model showed an increment along this score, most remarkably with the BALB/c mice switching from a resistant to a susceptible phenotype. We further show