98%
921
2 minutes
20
Immunological self-tolerance is established in the thymus by the expression of virtually all self-antigens, including tissue-restricted antigens (TRAs) and cell-type-restricted antigens (CRAs). Despite a wealth of knowledge about the transcriptional regulation of TRA genes, posttranscriptional regulation remains poorly understood. Here, we show that protein arginine methylation plays an essential role in central immune tolerance by maximizing the self-antigen repertoire in medullary thymic epithelial cells (mTECs). Protein arginine methyltransferase-5 (Prmt5) was required for pre-mRNA splicing of certain key genes in tolerance induction, including Aire as well as various genes encoding TRAs. Mice lacking Prmt5 specifically in thymic epithelial cells exhibited an altered thymic T cell selection, leading to the breakdown of immune tolerance accompanied by both autoimmune responses and enhanced antitumor immunity. Thus, arginine methylation and transcript splicing are essential for establishing immune tolerance and may serve as a therapeutic target in autoimmune diseases as well as cancer immunotherapy.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11473167 | PMC |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1172/JCI179612 | DOI Listing |
Immunol Invest
September 2025
Scientific Research Department, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guilin Medical University, Guilin, China.
Autoimmune diseases (AIDs) constitute a group of disorders where the immune system mistakenly attacks the body's tissues. The pathogenesis of AIDs involve a breakdown in immune tolerance, culminating in an immune response that targets autoantigens. In adaptive immunity, secondary rearrangement of T cell receptors (TCRs) and B cell receptors (BCRs) involves sequential V(D)J recombination events during lymphocyte development.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTrends Pharmacol Sci
September 2025
Department of Biosciences and Bioinformatics & Suzhou Municipal Key Lab of Biomedical Sciences and Translational Immunology, School of Science, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou, China; Biomedical Research Center, School of Science, Engineering and Environment, University of Salford, Manch
Regulatory T cells (Tregs) play a pivotal role in maintaining immune tolerance and sustaining immunological homeostasis. Emerging evidence indicates that Treg characteristics and functional alterations can significantly contribute to the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases including type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). Notably, recent studies have established a positive correlation between diminished numbers of Tregs and the onset of T1DM.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPestic Biochem Physiol
November 2025
School of Life Sciences, Chongqing University, Chongqing 401331, China; Chongqing Engineering Research Center for Fungal Insecticides, Chongqing 401331, China; Key Laboratory of Gene Function and Regulation Technologies under Chongqing Municipal Education Commission, Chongqing, China. Electronic add
Metarhizium acridum is a typical filamentous fungus that has been widely used to control grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets. Genetic engineering is a common strategy to enhance its virulence, conidiation, and stress tolerance. Here, we report that the M.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Biol Macromol
September 2025
CNC-UC - Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, 3004-504, Portugal; CIBB - Center for Innovative Biomedicine and Biotechnology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, 3004-504, Portugal; Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, 3000-548, Portugal. Electronic a
The increasing prevalence of respiratory disorders highlights the urgent need for effective mucosal vaccines that elicit targeted immune responses at pathogen entry sites. However, the advancement of mucosal vaccines is limited by challenges in antigen delivery and overcoming mucosal immune tolerance. In this study, we developed a gene delivery platform using chitosan functionalized with lactobionic acid (LA) to enhance targeting of antigen-presenting cells and to form stable DNA polyplexes with high transfection efficiency.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Neuroimmunol
August 2025
Department of Neurology, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin 300052, China; Tianjin Neurological Institute, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin 300052, China. Electronic address:
We present a clinically instructive case of a 50-year-old woman with acetylcholine receptor (AChR) antibody-positive generalized myasthenia gravis (MG) who subsequently developed glutamic acid decarboxylase 65 (GAD65) antibody-associated neurological disorders alongside a type B2 thymoma. This rare coexistence highlights the profound immune dysregulation induced by thymomas, wherein loss of self-tolerance emergence multiple concurrent autoimmune phenomena. The patient's favorable response to multimodal immunotherapy-including efgartigimod, high-dose corticosteroids, and rituximab-underscores the therapeutic imperative for early, targeted immunomodulation in such complex neuroimmunological syndromes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF