Mitochondrial complex III is essential for suppressive function of regulatory T cells

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0846-z

Samuel E. Weinberg, Benjamin D. Singer, Elizabeth M. Steinert, Carlos A. Martinez, Manan M. Mehta, Inmaculada Martínez-Reyes, Peng Gao, Kathryn A. Helmin, Hiam Abdala-Valencia, Laura A. Sena, Paul T. Schumacker, Laurence A. Turka & Navdeep S. Chandel

• Regulatory T-cells (T-regs) are a sub-population of T cells (T cells being a kind of immune cell) which have immunosuppressive activities. They tend to down-regulate the induction and proliferation of effector T cells.
• In this study, the authors ablate complex III in T-regs of mice, and show that this induces fatal inflammatory disease early in life. 
• Mice lacking complex III in T-regs displayed a loss of ability to downregulate T-cell activity, without affecting T-reg proliferation and survival. 
• Loss of complex III in T-regs was associated with increased DNA methylation