Skin and gut imprinted T helper cell subsets exhibit distinct functional phenotypes in CNS autoimmunity

We developed an experimental framework to probe the idea that the site of priming in the systemic immune compartment is a determinant of T helper cell-induced immunopathology in remote organs. By site-specific in vivo labeling of antigen-specific T cells in inguinal (i) or gut draining mesenteric (m) lymph nodes, we show that i-T cells and m-T cells isolated from the inflamed central nervous system in a model for Multiple Sclerosis are distinct. Overall design: We sorted i- and m-T cells (mD2REDCD4+CD44high) from lymph nodes and spleens of 2D2 x TH PhamT mice and performed RNAseq