Vitamin D Inhibits IL-22 Production Through a Repressive Vitamin D Response Element in the il22 Promoter

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

Th22 cells constitute a recently described CD4+ T cell subset defined by its production of interleukin (IL)-22. The action of IL-22 is mainly restricted to epithelial cells. IL-22 enhances keratinocyte proliferation but inhibits their differentiation and maturation. Dysregulated IL-22 production has been associated to some inflammatory skin diseases such as atopic dermatitis and psoriasis. How IL-22 production is regulated in human T cells is not fully known. In the present study, we identified conditions to generate Th22 cells that do not co-produce IL-17 from naïve human CD4+ T cells. We show that in addition to the transcription factors AhR and RORγt, the active form of vitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3) regulates IL-22 production in these cells. By studying T cells with a mutated vitamin D receptor (VDR), we demonstrate that the 1,25(OH)2D3-induced inhibition of il22 gene transcription is dependent on the transcriptional activity of the VDR in the T cells. Finally, we identified a vitamin D response element (VDRE) in the il22 promoter and demonstrate that 1,25(OH)2D3-VDR directly inhibits IL-22 production via this repressive VDRE.

Original languageEnglish
Article number715059
JournalFrontiers in Immunology
Volume12
ISSN1664-3224
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright © 2021 Lopez, Al-Jaberi, Damas, Weinert, Pus, Torres-Rusillo, Woetmann, Ødum, Bonefeld, Kongsbak-Wismann and Geisler.

    Research areas

  • IL-17, IL-22, Th22 cells, vitamin D, vitamin D receptor, vitamin D response element (VDRE)

Number of downloads are based on statistics from Google Scholar and www.ku.dk


No data available

ID: 276651959