Regulation of Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis by TPL-2 Kinase

TPL-2 expression is required for efficient polarization of naive T cells to Th1 effector cells in vitro, and for Th1-mediated immune responses. In the present study, we investigated the potential role of TPL-2 in Th17 cells. TPL-2 was found to be dispensable for Th17 cell differentiation in vitro, and for the initial priming of Th17 cells in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a Th17 cell-mediated disease model for multiple sclerosis. Nevertheless, TPL-2-deficient mice were protected from EAE, which correlated with reduced immune cell infiltration, demyelination and axonal damage in the CNS. Adoptive transfer experiments demonstrated that there was no T cell-intrinsic function for TPL-2 in EAE, and that TPL-2 signaling was not required in radiation-sensitive hematopoietic cells. Rather, TPL-2 signaling in radiation-resistant stromal cells promoted the effector phase of the disease. Importantly, using a newly generated mouse strain expressing a kinase-inactive form of TPL-2, we demonstrated that stimulation of EAE was dependent on TPL-2’s catalytic activity, and not its adaptor function to stabilize the associated ubiquitin-binding protein ABIN-2. Our data therefore raise the possibility that small molecule inhibitors of TPL-2 may be beneficial in multiple sclerosis therapy.