Malt1 protease is critical in maintaining function of Treg cells and may be a therapeutic target for anti-tumor immunity

We report that the paracaspase Malt1 is required for the development and function of Treg cells. By generating Malt1 conditional knockout and protease dead mutant mice, we found Malt1-loss in Treg cells would lead to early-onset lethal autoimmune disease and the mice would die within 40 days after birth. Interestingly, mice with Treg specific inhibition of Malt1 protease activity develop spontaneous inflammatory disorders. YFP+ Treg cells sorted from WT, cKO and cKI mice were used for RNA extraction and RNA-sequencing