TY - JOUR
T1 - IL-17 Producing Lymphocytes Cause Dry Eye and Corneal Disease With Aging in RXRα Mutant Mouse
AU - Alam, Jehan
AU - Yazdanpanah, Ghasem
AU - Ratnapriya, Rinki
AU - Borcherding, Nicholas
AU - de Paiva, Cintia S.
AU - Li, De Quan
AU - Guimaraes de Souza, Rodrigo
AU - Yu, Zhiyuan
AU - Pflugfelder, Stephen C.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2022 Alam, Yazdanpanah, Ratnapriya, Borcherding, de Paiva, Li, Guimaraes de Souza, Yu and Pflugfelder.
PY - 2022/3/23
Y1 - 2022/3/23
N2 - Purpose: To investigate IL-17 related mechanisms for developing dry eye disease in the Pinkie mouse strain with a loss of function RXRα mutation. Methods: Measures of dry eye disease were assessed in the cornea and conjunctiva. Expression profiling was performed by single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) to compare gene expression in conjunctival immune cells. Conjunctival immune cells were immunophenotyped by flow cytometry and confocal microscopy. The activity of RXRα ligand 9-cis retinoic acid (RA) was evaluated in cultured monocytes and γδ T cells. Results: Compared to wild type (WT) C57BL/6, Pinkie has increased signs of dry eye disease, including decreased tear volume, corneal barrier disruption, corneal/conjunctival cornification and goblet cell loss, and corneal vascularization, opacification, and ulceration with aging. ScRNA-seq of conjunctival immune cells identified γδ T cells as the predominant IL-17 expressing population in both strains and there is a 4-fold increased percentage of γδ T cells in Pinkie. Compared to WT, IL-17a, and IL-17f significantly increased in Pinkie with conventional T cells and γδ T cells as the major producers. Flow cytometry revealed an increased number of IL-17+ γδ T cells in Pinkie. Tear concentration of the IL-17 inducer IL-23 is significantly higher in Pinkie. 9-cis RA treatment suppresses stimulated IL-17 production by γδ T and stimulatory activity of monocyte supernatant on γδ T cell IL-17 production. Compared to WT bone marrow chimeras, Pinkie chimeras have increased IL-17+ γδ T cells in the conjunctiva after desiccating stress and anti-IL-17 treatment suppresses dry eye induced corneal MMP-9 production/activity and conjunctival goblet cell loss. Conclusion: These findings indicate that RXRα suppresses generation of dry eye disease-inducing IL-17 producing lymphocytes s in the conjunctiva and identifies RXRα as a potential therapeutic target in dry eye.
AB - Purpose: To investigate IL-17 related mechanisms for developing dry eye disease in the Pinkie mouse strain with a loss of function RXRα mutation. Methods: Measures of dry eye disease were assessed in the cornea and conjunctiva. Expression profiling was performed by single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) to compare gene expression in conjunctival immune cells. Conjunctival immune cells were immunophenotyped by flow cytometry and confocal microscopy. The activity of RXRα ligand 9-cis retinoic acid (RA) was evaluated in cultured monocytes and γδ T cells. Results: Compared to wild type (WT) C57BL/6, Pinkie has increased signs of dry eye disease, including decreased tear volume, corneal barrier disruption, corneal/conjunctival cornification and goblet cell loss, and corneal vascularization, opacification, and ulceration with aging. ScRNA-seq of conjunctival immune cells identified γδ T cells as the predominant IL-17 expressing population in both strains and there is a 4-fold increased percentage of γδ T cells in Pinkie. Compared to WT, IL-17a, and IL-17f significantly increased in Pinkie with conventional T cells and γδ T cells as the major producers. Flow cytometry revealed an increased number of IL-17+ γδ T cells in Pinkie. Tear concentration of the IL-17 inducer IL-23 is significantly higher in Pinkie. 9-cis RA treatment suppresses stimulated IL-17 production by γδ T and stimulatory activity of monocyte supernatant on γδ T cell IL-17 production. Compared to WT bone marrow chimeras, Pinkie chimeras have increased IL-17+ γδ T cells in the conjunctiva after desiccating stress and anti-IL-17 treatment suppresses dry eye induced corneal MMP-9 production/activity and conjunctival goblet cell loss. Conclusion: These findings indicate that RXRα suppresses generation of dry eye disease-inducing IL-17 producing lymphocytes s in the conjunctiva and identifies RXRα as a potential therapeutic target in dry eye.
KW - conjunctiva
KW - dry eye
KW - gamma delta (gammadelta) T cells
KW - IL-17
KW - retinoic acid
KW - RXR alpha
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85128186144&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fmed.2022.849990
DO - 10.3389/fmed.2022.849990
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85128186144
SN - 2296-858X
VL - 9
JO - Frontiers in Medicine
JF - Frontiers in Medicine
M1 - 849990
ER -