Oxidative Stress and Treg and Th17 Dysfunction in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Figure 1

Oxidative stress and mTORC1-mediated Treg cell differentiation. TGF-β and IL-2 can induce CD4⁺Foxp3⁺ Treg cells expansion, and overproduction of IL-6 in SLE patients inhibits Foxp3 expression during Treg cell differentiation. Oxidative stress can promote increased production of leptin, nitric oxide, MHP, and enhanced Ca²⁺ flux in lupus T cells, which can result in overexpression of mTORC1, and then inhibit the development of CD4⁺CD25⁺Foxp3⁺ Treg cells. UV exposure-mediated increased production of FICZ can activate AHR signaling pathway and then inhibit Foxp3 expression in SLE. Rapamycin can inhibit mTORC1 in Tregs and then it promoted Treg cell expansion.