Natural polymorphisms in Tap2 influence negative selection and CD4∶CD8 lineage commitment in the rat.
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Tuncel J, Haag S, Yau AC, Norin U, Baud A, Lönnblom E, Maratou K, Ytterberg AJ, Ekman D, Thordardottir S, Johannesson M, Gillett A, EURATRANS Consortium , Stridh P, Jagodic M, Olsson T, Fernández-Teruel A, Zubarev RA, Mott R, Aitman TJ, Flint J, Holmdahl R
PLoS Genet 10 (2) e1004151 [2014-02-00; online 2014-02-20]
Genetic variation in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) affects CD4∶CD8 lineage commitment and MHC expression. However, the contribution of specific genes in this gene-dense region has not yet been resolved. Nor has it been established whether the same genes regulate MHC expression and T cell selection. Here, we assessed the impact of natural genetic variation on MHC expression and CD4∶CD8 lineage commitment using two genetic models in the rat. First, we mapped Quantitative Trait Loci (QTLs) associated with variation in MHC class I and II protein expression and the CD4∶CD8 T cell ratio in outbred Heterogeneous Stock rats. We identified 10 QTLs across the genome and found that QTLs for the individual traits colocalized within a region spanning the MHC. To identify the genes underlying these overlapping QTLs, we generated a large panel of MHC-recombinant congenic strains, and refined the QTLs to two adjacent intervals of ∼0.25 Mb in the MHC-I and II regions, respectively. An interaction between these intervals affected MHC class I expression as well as negative selection and lineage commitment of CD8 single-positive (SP) thymocytes. We mapped this effect to the transporter associated with antigen processing 2 (Tap2) in the MHC-II region and the classical MHC class I gene(s) (RT1-A) in the MHC-I region. This interaction was revealed by a recombination between RT1-A and Tap2, which occurred in 0.2% of the rats. Variants of Tap2 have previously been shown to influence the antigenicity of MHC class I molecules by altering the MHC class I ligandome. Our results show that a restricted peptide repertoire on MHC class I molecules leads to reduced negative selection of CD8SP cells. To our knowledge, this is the first study showing how a recombination between natural alleles of genes in the MHC influences lineage commitment of T cells.
PubMed 24586191
DOI 10.1371/journal.pgen.1004151
Crossref 10.1371/journal.pgen.1004151
pii: PGENETICS-D-13-00308
pmc: PMC3930506