RAB11FIP5-Deficient Mice Exhibit Cytokine-Related Transcriptomic Signatures.
Li D., Bradley T., Cain DW., Pedroza-Pacheco I., Aggelakopoulou M., Parks R., Barr M., Xia S-M., Scearce R., Bowman C., Stevens G., Newman A., Hora B., Chen Y., Riebe K., Wang Y., Sempowski G., Saunders KO., Borrow P., Haynes BF.
Rab11 recycling endosomes are involved in immunological synaptic functions, but the roles of Rab11 family-interacting protein 5 (Rab11Fip5), one of the Rab11 effectors, in the immune system remain obscure. Our previous study demonstrated that RAB11FIP5 transcripts are significantly elevated in PBMCs from HIV-1-infected individuals, making broadly HIV-1-neutralizing Abs compared with those without broadly neutralizing Abs; however, the role of Rab11FiP5 in immune functions remains unclear. In this study, a RAB11FIP5 gene knockout (RAB11FIP5-/-) mouse model was employed to study the role of Rab11Fip5 in immune responses. RAB11FIP5-/- mice exhibited no perturbation in lymphoid tissue cell subsets, and Rab11Fip5 was not required for serum Ab induction following HIV-1 envelope immunization, Ab transcytosis to mucosal sites, or survival after influenza challenge. However, differences were observed in multiple transcripts, including cytokine genes, in lymphocyte subsets from envelope-immunized RAB11FIP5-/- versus control mice. These included alterations in several genes in NK cells that mirrored observations in NKs from HIV-infected humans expressing less RAB11FIP5, although Rab11Fip5 was dispensable for NK cell cytolytic activity. Notably, immunized RAB11FIP5-/- mice had lower IL4 expression in CD4+ T follicular helper cells and showed lower TNF expression in CD8+ T cells. Likewise, TNF-α production by human CD8+ T cells correlated with PBMC RAB11FIP5 expression. These observations in RAB11FIP5-/- mice suggest a role for Rab11Fip5 in regulating cytokine responses.