- Lin, Chia-Hao;
- Wu, Cheng-Jang;
- Cho, Sunglim;
- Patkar, Rasika;
- Huth, William J;
- Lin, Ling-Li;
- Chen, Mei-Chi;
- Israelsson, Elisabeth;
- Betts, Joanne;
- Niedzielska, Magdalena;
- Patel, Shefali A;
- Duong, Han G;
- Gerner, Romana R;
- Hsu, Chia-Yun;
- Catley, Matthew;
- Maciewicz, Rose A;
- Chu, Hiutung;
- Raffatellu, Manuela;
- Chang, John T;
- Lu, Li-Fan
Regulatory T cells (Treg cells) are instrumental in establishing immunological tolerance. However, the precise effector mechanisms by which Treg cells control a specific type of immune response in a given tissue remains unresolved. By simultaneously studying Treg cells from different tissue origins under systemic autoimmunity, in the present study we show that interleukin (IL)-27 is specifically produced by intestinal Treg cells to regulate helper T17 cell (TH17 cell) immunity. Selectively increased intestinal TH17 cell responses in mice with Treg cell-specific IL-27 ablation led to exacerbated intestinal inflammation and colitis-associated cancer, but also helped protect against enteric bacterial infection. Furthermore, single-cell transcriptomic analysis has identified a CD83+CD62Llo Treg cell subset that is distinct from previously characterized intestinal Treg cell populations as the main IL-27 producers. Collectively, our study uncovers a new Treg cell suppression mechanism crucial for controlling a specific type of immune response in a particular tissue and provides further mechanistic insights into tissue-specific Treg cell-mediated immune regulation.