The RNA-Binding Protein KSRP Modulates Cytokine Expression of CD4⁺ T Cells

The KH-type splicing regulatory protein (KSRP) is a RNA-binding protein, which regulates the stability of many mRNAs encoding immune-relevant proteins. As KSRP regulates innate immune responses, for instance by the modulation of type I interferon mRNA stability, we were interested whether knockdown of the protein (KSRP^-/-) interferes with T cell activation and polarization. Polyclonally stimulated KSRP^-/- CD4⁺ T cells proliferated at a higher extent and higher frequency and expressed the activation marker CD25 more than wild-type T cells. In supernatants of stimulated KSRP^-/- CD4⁺ T cells, levels of IL-5, IL-9, IL-10, and IL-13 were observed to be increased compared to those of the control group. KSRP^-/- CD8⁺ T cells showed no altered proliferative capacity upon polyclonal stimulation, but supernatants contained lower levels of interferon-γ. Similar changes in the cytokine expression patterns were also detected in T cells derived from KSRP^-/- mice undergoing arthritis induction indicative of a pathophysiological role of KSRP-dependent T cell polarization. We demonstrated the direct binding of KSRP to the 3' untranslated region of IL-13, IL-10, and IFN-γ mRNA in in vitro experiments. Moreover, since IL-4 mRNA decay was reduced in KSRP^-/- CD4⁺ T cells, we identify KSRP as a negative regulator of IL-4 expression. These data indicate that overexpression of IL-4, which constitutes the primary inducer of Th2 polarization, may cause the Th2 bias of polyclonally stimulated KSRP^-/- CD4⁺ T cells. This is the first report demonstrating that KSRP is involved in the regulation of T cell responses. We present strong evidence that T cells derived from KSRP^-/- mice favor Th2-driven immune responses.