Microbiota- and diet-specific T cells become Tregs by default

Abstract

CD4+ T cells recognize antigens from microbiota, diet, and pathogens via T cell receptors (TCRs) and orchestrate immunity by differentiating into tolerogenic regulatory (Treg) or pro-inflammatory effector (Teff) lineages (e.g. TH1 or TH17) (1). Dysregulation of these responses underlies numerous gastrointestinal inflammatory and infectious diseases (2-6). The prevailing paradigm suggests that individual microbes and dietary antigens drive distinct cell fates (e.g., segmented filamentous bacteria [SFB] induce TH17 cells (7) whereas Helicobacter hepaticus (8) and diet (9) induce Tregs). However, the generality of this model is uncertain: several key organisms are atypical, and foundational studies often omitted a complex microbiome or a diverse polyclonal TCR repertoire. Here we develop a high-throughput pipeline to screen hundreds of TCRs from mice colonized from birth with a 116-strain human microbiota (hCom2v), demonstrating that TCRs recognizing microbiota or dietary antigens are overwhelmingly enriched in the induced Treg (iTreg) lineage. Endogenous CD4+ T cells specific for these antigens adopt a uniform iTreg phenotype in vivo, both in hCom2v-colonized and conventional mice. This baseline tolerance is robust to acute inflammation but breaks down following a 'two-hit' combination of inflammation and genetic susceptibility, allowing Teff to emerge against otherwise Treg-restricted antigens. These data support a revised paradigm in which antigen-specific Treg induction is the default response to foreign antigens in the healthy gut, and effector responses are an exception reflecting a perceived threat. Reframing gastrointestinal immunity as a tolerance-first system provides a framework for understanding inflammatory disease pathogenesis and suggests that therapeutic strategies should aim to restore a Treg-predominant baseline.