Interleukin-10-mediated regulatory T-cell responses to epitopes on a human red blood cell autoantigen

Regulatory T cells have been shown to control animal models of immune-mediated pathology by inhibitory cytokine production, but little is known about such cells in human disease. Here we characterize regulatory T-cell responses specific for a human red blood cell autoantigen in patients with warm-type autoimmune hemolytic anemia. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with autoimmune hemolytic anemia were found either to proliferate and produce interferon-gamma or to secrete the regulatory cytokine interleukin 10 when stimulated in vitro with a major red blood cell autoantigen, the RhD protein. Flow cytometric analysis confirmed that the majority of the responding cells were of the CD4(+) phenotype. Serial results from individual patients demonstrated that this bias toward proliferative or interleukin-10 responses was unstable over time and could reverse in subsequent samples. Epitope mapping studies identified peptides from the sequence of the autoantigen that preferentially induced interleukin-10 production, rather than proliferation, and demonstrated that many contain naturally processed epitopes. Responses to such peptides suppressed T-cell proliferation against the RhD protein, an inhibition that was mediated largely by interleukin 10 and dependent on cytotonic T lymphocyte-associated antigen (CTLA-4) co-stimulation. Antigenic peptides with the ability to stimulate specific regulatory cells may represent a new class of therapeutic agents for immune-mediated disease.