Hypercholesterolemia Enhances T Cell Receptor Signaling and Increases the Regulatory T Cell Population.
Reiner K W MailerAnton GisteråKonstantinos A PolyzosDaniel F J KetelhuthGöran K HanssonPublished in: Scientific reports (2017)
Hypercholesterolemia promotes the inflammation against lipoproteins in atherosclerosis. Development of atherosclerosis is affected by the balance between pro-inflammatory effector T cells and anti-inflammatory regulatory T (Treg) cells. However, phenotype and function of T cell subpopulations in hypercholesterolemia remain to be investigated. Here, we found that cholesterol-containing diet increased the expression of the Treg cell lineage-defining transcription factor FoxP3 among thymocytes and splenocytes. Hypercholesterolemia elevated the FoxP3 expression level and population size of peripheral Treg cells, but did not prevent enhanced proliferation of stimulated T cells. Moreover, cholesterol supplementation in diet as well as in cell culture medium promoted T cell antigen receptor (TCR) signaling in CD4+ T cells. Our results demonstrate that hypercholesterolemia enhances TCR stimulation, Treg cell development as well as T cell proliferation. Thus, our findings may help to understand why hypercholesterolemia correlates with altered CD4+ T cell responses.
Keyphrases
- low density lipoprotein
- regulatory t cells
- transcription factor
- cardiovascular events
- induced apoptosis
- single cell
- cell proliferation
- poor prognosis
- cell cycle arrest
- oxidative stress
- physical activity
- cardiovascular disease
- anti inflammatory
- dendritic cells
- binding protein
- coronary artery disease
- immune response
- long non coding rna
- pi k akt
- mesenchymal stem cells
- mass spectrometry
- bone marrow