SerpinB1 controls encephalitogenic T helper cells in neuroinflammation

Abstract

SerpinB1, a protease inhibitor and neutrophil survival factor, was recently linked with IL-17-expressing T cells. Here, we show that () is dramatically induced in a subset of effector CD4 cells in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Despite normal T cell priming, mice are resistant to EAE with a paucity of T helper (T) cells that produce two or more of the cytokines, IFNγ, GM-CSF, and IL-17. These multiple cytokine-producing CD4 cells proliferate extremely rapidly; highly express the cytolytic granule proteins perforin-A, granzyme C (GzmC), and GzmA and surface receptors IL-23R, IL-7Rα, and IL-1R1; and can be identified by the surface marker CXCR6. In mice, CXCR6 T cells are generated but fail to expand due to enhanced granule protease-mediated mitochondrial damage leading to suicidal cell death. Finally, anti-CXCR6 antibody treatment, like deletion, dramatically reverts EAE, strongly indicating that the CXCR6 T cells are the drivers of encephalitis.