The Neuroimmune Semaphorin-3A Reduces Inflammation and Progression of Experimental Autoimmune Arthritis

Semaphorin-3A (Sema3A), a member of a large family of conserved proteins originally implicated in axon guidance, is expressed by activated T cells and downmodulates T cell activation in vitro. This study examined the effect and mechanism of action of Sema3A overexpression in a mouse model of collagen-induced arthritis. Prophylactic i.p. administration of plasmid DNA encoding Sema3A markedly reduced the incidence, disease severity, and articular inflammation compared with control plasmid without insert. Treatment of Sema3A reduced anticollagen IgG levels and suppressed collagen-specific proinflammatory cytokine (IFN-γ and IL-17) release, but increased IL-10 concentration in the serum. In line with results in arthritic mice, Sema3A expression is defective in CD4(+) T cells derived from patients with rheumatoid arthritis. In contrast, increased expression of the Sema3A receptor neuropilin-1 (NP-1) is detected in the same cells. The CD4(+)NP-1(+) T cells are a T cell subset involved in the control of the immune responses. They express greater amounts of IL-10 and show suppressive activities on autologous CD4(+) T cells. Sema3A acted directly on CD4(+)NP-1(+) T cells, because it could increase IL-10 production and influence the regulatory function on CD4(+) T cell growth. Therefore, I propose that Sema3A increases the CD4(+)NP-1(+) T cell ability to suppress alloresponses, that its transient expression is altered in rheumatoid inflammation, and that reintroduction of Sema3A is sufficient to attenuate collagen-induced arthritis, supporting its therapeutic potential in the treatment of autoimmune disorders.