Role of CD25+ Dendritic Cells in the Generation of Th17 Autoreactive T Cells in Autoimmune Experimental Uveitis

In the current study, we showed that in vivo administration of an anti-CD25 Ab (PC61) decreased the Th17 response in C57BL/6 mice immunized with the uveitogenic peptide interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein, while enhancing the autoreactive Th1 response. The depressed Th17 response was closely associated with decreased numbers of a splenic dendritic cell (DC) subset expressing CD11c(+)CD3(-)CD25(+) and decreased expansion of γδ T cells. We demonstrated that ablation of the CD25(+) DC subset accounted for the decreased activation and the expansion of γδ T cells, leading to decreased activation of IL-17(+) interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein-specific T cells. Our results show that an enhanced Th17 response in an autoimmune disease is associated with the appearance of a DC subset expressing CD25 and that treatment of mice with anti-CD25 Ab causes functional alterations in a number of immune cell types, namely DCs and γδ T cells, in addition to CD25(+)αβTCR(+) regulatory T cells.