Butyrophilin 2A2 promotes T cell immunoregulation by enhancing CD45 phosphatase activity within the immune synapse

ABSTRACT B7 costimulatory family member Butyrophilin 2A2 ( BTN2A2) is predominantly expressed by antigen presenting cells and regulates T cell immunity, but molecular mechanisms are unclear. Using immunoblots analyzing TCR-initiated signaling intermediaries, co-immunoprecipitation studies, confocal microscopy, structural modeling-guided mutational analyses, and microscale thermophoresis, we demonstrate that BTN2A2 directly interacts with CD45RO, resulting in CD45 retention within the immune synapse during TCR activation. Recombinant BTN2A2 increased murine CD4+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Treg) and reduced T helper 17 (Th17) cells in vitro through mechanisms dependent on CD45 phosphatase activity. BTN2A2 treatment reduced clinical expression of two murine autoimmune disease models and increased Treg/Th17 ratios. Analyses of BTN2A2-deficient animals showed exacerbated disease associated with reduced Treg/Th17 ratios. Addition of BTN2A2 to human mixed lymphocyte responses similarly enhanced human Treg and suppressed Th17 cells and was CD45 phosphatase dependent. Together, our studies identify BTN2A2 as a physiological CD45RO ligand that enhances CD45 phosphatase activity in murine and human T cells, providing mechanisms for BTN2A2-mediated amelioration of autoimmunity. Summary Butyrophilin 2A2 ameliorates autoimmunity by binding to CD45RO on activated T cell surfaces leading to dampened TCR signaling which in turn leads to expansion of T regulatory cells and reduction of Th17 differentiation.