Located contiguously on the long arm of the second chromosome are gene paralogs encoding the immunoglobulin-family co-activation receptors CD28 and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA4). CD28 and CTLA4 share the same B7 ligands yet each provides opposing proliferative signals to T cells. Herein, we describe for the first time two unrelated subjects with coexisting CD28 and CTLA4 haploinsufficiency due to heterozygous microdeletions of chromosome 2q. Although their clinical phenotype, multi-organ inflammatory disease, is superficially similar to that of CTLA4 haploinsufficient autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome type V (ALPS5) patients, we demonstrate our subjects' underlying immunopathology to be distinct. Unlike ALPS5 T cells which hyperproliferate to T-cell receptor-mediated activation and infiltrate organs, T cells from our subjects are hypoproliferative and do not. Instead of T cell infiltrates, biopsies of affected subject tissues demonstrated infiltrates of lineage negative lymphoid cells. This histologic feature correlated with significant increases in circulating type 3 innate lymphoid cells (ILC3s) and ILC3 cytokines, interleukin 22, and interleukin-17A. CTLA4-Ig monotherapy, which we trialed in one subject, was remarkably effective in controlling inflammatory diseases, normalizing ILC3 frequencies, and reducing ILC3 cytokine concentrations.
Keywords: CD28; cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4; inflammation; regulatory T cell; type 3 innate lymphoid cell.