TCR repertoire sequencing of mucosal Foxp3+RORgt+ regulatory T cells

Foxp3+RORgt+ T cells have recently been characterized as an immunoregulatory population highly enriched in the colon lamina propria. However, their relation to RORgt- Treg and TH17 cells remains unclear. Here, we use a fixed TCRb system to show that the TCR repertoire of the Foxp3+RORgt+ population is mostly distinct compared to other colonic T cell subsets. However, a fraction of these TCRs are also found in the TH17 subset, suggesting that TCR repertoire overlap may contribute to the reported ability of Foxp3+RORgt+ cells to regulate TH17 immunity.