Regulatory T-cells are essential to promote proper CD4 T-cell priming upon mucosal infection

Regulatory T-cells (Tregs) limit autoimmunity and immunopathology using a variety of suppressive mechanisms, but their roles during pathogen-directed immune responses remain unclear. Following Herpes Simplex virus-2 (HSV-2) infection, mice lacking Tregs fail to control viral replication, pointing to a role for Tregs in facilitating productive immune responses. Using adoptive transfer of TCR transgenic CD4 T-cells into Treg-sufficient or Treg-depleted mice prior to HSV-2 infection, we found that Tregs are required for timely accumulation of HSV-2-specific CD4 T-cells within the infected tissues. Further, Tregs are critical for appropriate trafficking of dendritic cells (DCs) from the vaginal mucosa to the dLN, which results in fully effective CD4 T-cell priming, activation, and ultimately migration to the infected tissues. Using CTLA-4 conditional knockout mice, we demonstrate that Tregs impact DC migration through a CTLA-4-mediated mechanism. Together, our data highlight the critical role of Tregs in proper potentiation of adaptive immune responses to microbial infection.