Journal: iScience
Article Title: The ionotropic AMPA receptor contributes to autoimmunity via altered regulatory T cell differentiation
doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2025.114267
Figure Lengend Snippet: AMPAR-deficient CD4 T cells changed cytokine sensitivity and metabolically shifted toward glycolysis and lipid metabolism (A) Quantification of Foxp3 gMFI flow staining of WT and T ΔAMPAR iTregs cultured under the titration of IL-2 (mean ± SEM, ANOVA, representative of 3 independent experiments). (B) Representative flow plot of pSTAT5 + Foxp3 + expression (left) and quantification (right) from WT and T ΔAMPAR iTreg cultures (mean ± SEM, t test, representative of 3 independent experiments). (C) Quantification of CD4 + CD25 + frequency over the course of iTreg differentiation (mean ± SEM, ANOVA, representative of 3 independent experiments). (D) Western blot of WT and T ΔAMPAR CD4 T cells collected on day 1, 2, and 3 of iTreg differentiation, immunoblotted for phosphorylated mTOR (pmTOR), total mTOR, and β-Actin expression (top to bottom, representative of 3 independent experiments). (E) Quantification of CD71 + cells among CD4 + T cells on day 3 of iTreg differentiation. (mean ± SEM, t test, representative of 3 independent experiments). (F–I) Seahorse metabolic flux analysis of iTreg cells. (F) extracellular acidification rate (ECAR) measurement over time (minutes) and (G) quantification of glycolysis (left) and glycolytic capacity (right) measurements. (H) oxygen consumption rate (OCR) measurement over time (minutes) and (I) quantification of maximum respiratory capacity (left) and reserve capacity (right) measurements (mean ± SEM, ANOVA, representative of 3 independent experiments). (J and K) WT and T ΔAMPAR CD4 were cultured under iTreg polarizing conditions and subjected to bulk RNA sequencing and analysis. (J) GSEA plot of cholesterol metabolism pathway enrichment in T ΔAMPAR versus WT cells. (K) Heatmap of genes associated with cholesterol metabolism in T ΔAMPAR versus WT. (L) Quantification of Srebf1 , Srebf2 , Hmgcr , Acaca , Fasn , and Sqle mRNA relative expression in WT and T ΔAMPAR CD4 from iTreg culture determined by qPCR (mean ± SEM, ANOVA, representative of 2 independent experiments). (M) Western blot images (left) of WT and T ΔAMPAR immunoblotted for Srebf1 and Srebf2 (image is representative of 2 independent experiments) and quantification (right) of cleaved to precursor ratios analyzed by densitometry. (N and O) Cell staining for Lipid and cholesterol content. (N) Bodipy and (O) Filipin III gMFI flow staining of WT and T ΔAMPAR CD4 from day 2 iTreg cultures (mean ± SEM, t test, representative of 3 independent experiments). Statistical significance represented as ns > 0.05, ∗ p < 0.05, ∗∗ p < 0.01, ∗∗∗ p < 0.001, ∗∗∗∗ p < 0.0001.
Article Snippet: CD4 T cells from WT (GluA1/2/ 3 fL/fL Cre negative control) and T ΔAMPAR (GluA1/2/ 3 fL/fL Cre positive) were isolated and enriched from pooled lymph nodes and spleens by negative selection total CD4 magnetic bead kit (Miltenyi Biotech, 130-104-454).
Techniques: Metabolic Labelling, Staining, Cell Culture, Titration, Expressing, Western Blot, RNA Sequencing