DNA-binding of the Tet-transactivator curtails antigen-induced lymphocyte activation in mice

Eleonora Ottina (), Victor Peperzak, Katia Schoeler, Emma Carrington, Roswitha Sgonc, Marc Pellegrini, Simon Preston, Marco J. Herold, Andreas Strasser and Andreas Villunger ()
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Eleonora Ottina: Medical University of Innsbruck
Victor Peperzak: The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for Medical Research
Katia Schoeler: Medical University of Innsbruck
Emma Carrington: The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for Medical Research
Roswitha Sgonc: Medical University of Innsbruck
Marc Pellegrini: The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for Medical Research
Simon Preston: The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for Medical Research
Marco J. Herold: The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for Medical Research
Andreas Strasser: The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for Medical Research
Andreas Villunger: Medical University of Innsbruck

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract The Tet-On/Off system for conditional transgene expression constitutes state-of-the-art technology to study gene function by facilitating inducible expression in a timed and reversible manner. Several studies documented the suitability and versatility of this system to trace lymphocyte fate and to conditionally express oncogenes or silence tumour suppressor genes in vivo. Here, we show that expression of the tetracycline/doxycycline-controlled Tet-transactivator, while tolerated well during development and in immunologically unchallenged animals, impairs the expansion of antigen-stimulated T and B cells and thereby curtails adaptive immune responses in vivo. Transactivator-mediated cytotoxicity depends on DNA binding, but can be overcome by BCL2 overexpression, suggesting that apoptosis induction upon lymphocyte activation limits cellular and humoral immune responses. Our findings suggest a possible system-intrinsic biological bias of the Tet-On/Off system in vivo that will favour the outgrowth of apoptosis resistant clones, thus possibly confounding data published using such systems.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01022-4

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