Resistant effect of sodium chloride on the development and function of TGF-β-induced CD4+ Foxp3+ regulatory T cells

Abstract

Abstract High-salt diets inhibit the suppressive function of thymus-derived natural regulatory T cells (tTreg). TGF-β-induced ex vivo regulatory T cells (iTreg) represent another Treg subset that displays similarities and differences with tTreg. Here, we demonstrated that iTregs are completely stable and fully functional in the high salt condition. High salt did not affect the development, differentiation and function activities of iTreg in vitro and in vivo but affected the Foxp3 stability and function of tTreg in vitro and in vivo. In addition, high salt did not significantly change the transcription profiles of iTreg signature or pro-inflammatory genes. Therefore, we conclude that iTreg, unlike tTreg, is stable and functional in the presence of high salt. Thus, our findings provide another evidence that iTreg may have different biological features from tTreg and imply a greater potential to be employed in the clinical setting for patients with autoimmune diseases in the complicated role of environmental factors, including diet.