Supersulfide controls intestinal inflammation by suppressing CD4+ T cell proliferation
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is characterized by chronic intestinal inflammation where CD4+ T lymphocytes play an essential role. Accumulating evidence suggests that immune responses driven by CD4+ T cells are critically regulated by various metabolic pathways including oxidative phosphorylation...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Immunology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2025.1506580/full |
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| Summary: | Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is characterized by chronic intestinal inflammation where CD4+ T lymphocytes play an essential role. Accumulating evidence suggests that immune responses driven by CD4+ T cells are critically regulated by various metabolic pathways including oxidative phosphorylation and glycolysis. Here we show that CARS2/CPERS-dependent supersulfide metabolism restrains CD4+ T cell proliferation in a cell-intrinsic manner. Under steady state, Cars2+/- mice exhibited spontaneous accumulation of effector/memory CD4+ T cells in the colon with age. In lymphopenic conditions, Cars2+/- CD4+ T cells showed enhanced cell cycle entry with reduced expression of a cell cycle inhibitor Trp53 and triggered an exacerbated form of colitis, the response being rescued by treatment with a supersulfide donor glutathione trisulfide (GSSSG). Furthermore, re-analysis of publicly available gene datasets of human colonic CD4+ T lymphocytes revealed that downregulation of CARS2 was associated with pathogenesis of IBD, and indeed, addition of GSSSG inhibited human CD4+ T cell proliferation in vitro. Together these observations reveal that CARS2/CPERS-dependent supersulfide metabolism is essential for homeostasis of intestinal effector/memory CD4+ T cells, and further suggest that dysregulation of the same metabolic pathway can lead to development of gut inflammation both in mice and humans. |
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| ISSN: | 1664-3224 |