TβRIII is induced by TCR signaling and downregulated in FoxP3<sup>+</sup>regulatory T cells
Ortega-Francisco, S., de la Fuente-Granada, M., Alvarez Salazar, E. K., Bolaños-Castro, L. A., Fonseca-Camarillo, G., Olguin-Alor, R., ? Soldevila, G. (2017). T?RIII is induced by TCR signaling and downregulated in FoxP3+ regulatory T cells. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 494(1-2), 82?87. doi:10.1016/j.bbrc.2017.10.081
TGF-β type III receptor (TβRIII) is a co-receptor for TGFβ family members required for high-affinity binding of these ligands to their receptors, potentiating their cellular functions. TGF-βs, Bone Morphogenetic Proteins (BMP2/4) and Inhibins/Activins regulate different checkpoints during T cell differentiation. We have previously reported that TβRIII modulates T cell development by protecting developing thymocytes from apoptosis, however the role of this co-receptor in peripheral lymphocytes still remains elusive. Here we describe a detailed characterization of TβRIII expression in murine and human lymphocyte subpopulations demonstrating that this co-receptor is significantly expressed in T but not B lymphocytes and among them, preferentially expressed on naïve and central memory T cells. TβRIII was upregulated after TCR stimulation, in parallel to other early activation markers. In contrast, natural and induced Tregs downregulated TβRIII in association with FoxP3 upregulation. Finally, anti-TβRIII blocking experiments demonstrated that TβRIII promotes TGFβ-dependent iTreg conversion in vitro, and suggest that this co-receptor may be involved in modulating peripheral T cell tolerance and could be considered as a potential target to boost T cell immune responses.