Gab2 and Gab3 Redundantly Suppress Colitis by Modulating Macrophage and CD8(+) T-Cell Activation

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a multi-factorial chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract prognostically linked to CD8(+) T-cells, but little is known about their mechanism of activation during initiation of colitis. Here, Grb2-associated binding 2/3 adaptor protein double knockout mice (Gab2/3(−/−)) were generated. Gab2/3(−/−) mice, but not single knockout mice, developed spontaneous colitis. To analyze the cellular mechanism, reciprocal bone marrow (BM) transplantation demonstrated a Gab2/3(−/−) hematopoietic disease-initiating process. Adoptive transfer showed individual roles for macrophages and T-cells in promoting colitis development in vivo. In spontaneous disease, intestinal intraepithelial CD8(+) but much fewer CD4(+), T-cells from Gab2/3(−/−) mice with rectal prolapse were more proliferative. To analyze the molecular mechanism, reduced PI3-kinase/Akt/mTORC1 was observed in macrophages and T-cells, with interleukin (IL)-2 stimulated T-cells showing increased pSTAT5. These results illustrate the importance of Gab2/3 collectively in signaling responses required to control macrophage and CD8(+) T-cell activation and suppress chronic colitis.