T cell transfer into immunodeficient mice uncovers a paralytic phenotype beyond colitis

Adoptive transfer of CD45RB^high T cells into immunodeficient mice is a well-established model for inducing colitis. Here, we report for the first time that a subset of these mice unexpectedly developed paralysis, a phenotype resembling experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Paralytic mice exhibit the hallmark features of central nervous system (CNS) pathology, including spinal cord demyelination and immune cell infiltration, with prominent involvement of ex-Th17 (also called Th1-like) cells. The presence of ex-Th17 cells in the CNS of the affected mice suggests their contributory role in the development of paralysis. Notably, ex-Th17 cells have also been implicated in the pathogenesis of T cell transfer-induced colitis. Given the shared involvement of ex-Th17 cells in both the colitis model and the EAE-like CNS autoimmune model, we conducted comparative single-cell RNA sequencing analyses of ex-Th17 populations from colonic samples of patients with Crohn's disease and cerebrospinal fluid samples of patients with multiple sclerosis. These analyses revealed a convergent upregulation of the IFN-γ signaling pathway in both disease contexts. Collectively, our findings establish this model as a valuable platform for investigating how identical immune challenges can lead to tissue-specific autoimmune pathology and highlight ex-Th17 cells as a potential mechanistic link between systemic and CNS autoimmunity.