CD8+NKT样细胞在类风湿性关节炎中的作用及其机制研究

Rheumatoid arthritis is considered to be a chronic autoimmune disease which could not be cured. Broken immune homeostasis leads to autoimmune diseases, while the maintenance of immune homeostasis depends on precise immune regulation. In mouse models, we have found that CD8+NKT-like cells could exert inhibitory effects on immune responses. In human-beings, our data showed that the number of CD8+NKT-like cells decreased dramatically in rheumatoid arthritis patients. Therefore, we proposed the hypothesis that human CD8+NKT-like cells could also inhibit immune responses, which was then proved in our in vitro co-culture systems. In this project, we will further figure out the immunological features of these CD8+NKT-like cells, and reveal the molecular mechanisms involved in their immune down-regulation effects. The potential of using this subset to treat rheumatoid arthritis will also be explored.

类风湿性关节炎被认为是一种慢性自身免疫病，尚无有效治愈方法。自身免疫病的发生根源在于体内免疫稳态被打破；而机体免疫稳态的维持有赖于精细的免疫调节。本课题组基于此前对小鼠CD8+NKT样细胞免疫负向调节效应的研究，结合类风湿性关节炎患者外周血CD8+NKT样细胞数量较健康志愿者显著降低的现象，提出人CD8+NKT样细胞亚群免疫负向效应的假说，并在体外共培养体系中进行了初步验证。本研究将通过对人CD8+NKT样细胞免疫学特征的深入分析，发掘CD8+NKT样细胞发挥免疫负向调节效应的分子机制，并探索应用这群具有免疫负向调节效应的NKT细胞亚群治疗类风湿性关节炎的前景。