%0 Journal Article
%T Interleukin-2 immunotherapy reveals human regulatory T cell subsets with distinct functional and tissue-homing characteristics.
%A Raeber ME
%A Caspar DP
%A Zurbuchen Y
%A Guo N
%A Schmid J
%A Michler J
%A Martin AC
%A Steiner UC
%A Moor AE
%A Koning F
%A Boyman O
%J Immunity
%V 0
%N 0
%D 2024 Aug 6
%M 39137779
%F 43.474
%R 10.1016/j.immuni.2024.07.016
%X Due to its stimulatory potential for immunomodulatory CD4+ regulatory T (Treg) cells, low-dose interleukin-2 (IL-2) immunotherapy has gained considerable attention for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. In this investigator-initiated single-arm non-placebo-controlled phase-2 clinical trial of low-dose IL-2 immunotherapy in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients, we generated a comprehensive atlas of in vivo human immune responses to low-dose IL-2. We performed an in-depth study of circulating and cutaneous immune cells by imaging mass cytometry, high-parameter flow cytometry, transcriptomics, and targeted serum proteomics. Low-dose IL-2 stimulated various circulating immune cells, including Treg cells with a skin-homing phenotype that appeared in the skin of SLE patients in close interaction with endothelial cells. Analysis of surface proteins and transcriptomes revealed different IL-2-driven Treg cell activation programs, including gut-homing CD38+, skin-homing HLA-DR+, and highly proliferative inflammation-homing CD38+ HLA-DR+ Treg cells. Collectively, these data define the distinct human Treg cell subsets that are responsive to IL-2 immunotherapy.