Xi Chen1, Hui Lin2, Daping Yang3, Wei Xu4, Guangwei Liu5, Xinmei Liu6, Jianzhong Sheng7, Hefeng Huang8. 1. International Peace Maternity & Child Health Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China; Institute of Embryo-Fetal Original Adult Disease, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Embryo Original Disease, Shanghai, China. 2. International Peace Maternity & Child Health Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China; Institute of Embryo-Fetal Original Adult Disease, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China. 3. Key Laboratory of Stem Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China. 4. Department of Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China. 5. Key Laboratory of Cell Proliferation and Regulation Biology of Ministry of Education, Institute of Cell Biology, College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China. 6. International Peace Maternity & Child Health Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China; Institute of Embryo-Fetal Original Adult Disease, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Embryo Original Disease, Shanghai, China. Electronic address: nanlilac@hotmail.com. 7. Department of Pathology and Pathophysiology, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang, China. Electronic address: shengjz@zju.edu.cn. 8. International Peace Maternity & Child Health Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China; Institute of Embryo-Fetal Original Adult Disease, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China; Key Laboratory of Reproductive Genetics, Ministry of Education (Zhejiang University), Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Embryo Original Disease, Shanghai, China. Electronic address: huanghefg@sjtu.edu.cn.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Exposure to early-life undernutrition is closely related to higher risks of adverse immunologic outcomes in adulthood. Although it has been suggested that asthma has its origins in early life, its underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. OBJECTIVE: We characterized the effects of early-life undernutrition on T lymphocytes, which play a pivotal role in immune diseases, and we investigated whether this contributes to susceptibility to asthma in adulthood. METHODS: Pregnant mice were fed a protein restriction diet (PRD) to establish an early-life undernutrition model. Naive CD4+ T cells (CD4+CD62LhiCD44-) from offspring were used throughout the study. TH2 differentiation was examined by using fluorescence-activated cell sorting and ELISA under TH2-polarized conditions in vitro and through ovalbumin-induced experimental asthma in vivo. T-cell metabolism was measured with a Seahorse XF96 Analyzer. DNA methylation levels were measured by using bisulfite sequencing. RESULTS: PRD CD4+ T cells displayed increased activation and proliferation and were prone to differentiate into TH2 cells both in vitro and in vivo, leading to susceptibility to experimental asthma. Mechanistically, early-life undernutrition upregulated mechanistic target of rapamycin 1-dependent glycolysis and induced conserved noncoding DNA sequence 1 DNA hypomethylation in the TH2 cytokine locus of CD4+ T cells. Glycolysis blockades undermined increased TH2 skewing and alleviated experimental asthma in PRD mice. CONCLUSION: Early-life undernutrition induced mechanistic target of rapamycin 1-dependent glycolysis upregulation and TH2 cytokine locus hypomethylation in CD4+ T cells, resulting in increased T-cell activation, proliferation, and TH2 skewing and further susceptibility to experimental asthma.
BACKGROUND: Exposure to early-life undernutrition is closely related to higher risks of adverse immunologic outcomes in adulthood. Although it has been suggested that asthma has its origins in early life, its underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. OBJECTIVE: We characterized the effects of early-life undernutrition on T lymphocytes, which play a pivotal role in immune diseases, and we investigated whether this contributes to susceptibility to asthma in adulthood. METHODS: Pregnant mice were fed a protein restriction diet (PRD) to establish an early-life undernutrition model. Naive CD4+ T cells (CD4+CD62LhiCD44-) from offspring were used throughout the study. TH2 differentiation was examined by using fluorescence-activated cell sorting and ELISA under TH2-polarized conditions in vitro and through ovalbumin-induced experimental asthma in vivo. T-cell metabolism was measured with a Seahorse XF96 Analyzer. DNA methylation levels were measured by using bisulfite sequencing. RESULTS: PRD CD4+ T cells displayed increased activation and proliferation and were prone to differentiate into TH2 cells both in vitro and in vivo, leading to susceptibility to experimental asthma. Mechanistically, early-life undernutrition upregulated mechanistic target of rapamycin 1-dependent glycolysis and induced conserved noncoding DNA sequence 1 DNA hypomethylation in the TH2 cytokine locus of CD4+ T cells. Glycolysis blockades undermined increased TH2 skewing and alleviated experimental asthma in PRD mice. CONCLUSION: Early-life undernutrition induced mechanistic target of rapamycin 1-dependent glycolysis upregulation and TH2 cytokine locus hypomethylation in CD4+ T cells, resulting in increased T-cell activation, proliferation, and TH2 skewing and further susceptibility to experimental asthma.