Chloroquine-treated dendritic cells require STAT1 signaling for their tolerogenic activity

MS and EAE are T cell-driven autoimmune diseases of the CNS where IL-17-producing Th17 cells promote damage and are pathogenic. Conversely, tolerogenic DCs induce Treg cells and suppress Th17 cells. Chloroquine (CQ) suppresses EAE through the modulation of DCs by unknown mechanisms. Here, we show that STAT 1 is necessary for CQ-induced tolerogenic DCs (tolDCs) to efficiently suppress EAE. We observed that CQ induces phosphorylation of STAT1 in DCs in vivo and in vitro. Genetic blockage of STAT1 abrogated the suppressive activity of CQ-treated DCs. Opposed to its WT counterparts, CQ-treated STAT1^-/- BMDCs were unable to suppress Th17 cells and increased EAE severity. Our findings show that STAT1 is a major signaling pathway in CQ-induced tolDCs and may shed light on new therapeutic avenues for the induction of tolDCs in autoimmune diseases such as MS.