Search

A defect in COPI transport due to mutant COPA causes multimerization of STING on the Golgi and type I interferon–driven immune dysregulation in mice. Small-molecule inhibition of STING activation is a new molecular target for treating COPA syndrome., Pathogenic COPA variants cause a Mendelian syndrome of immune dysregulation with elevated type I interferon signaling. COPA is a subunit of coat protein complex I (COPI) that mediates Golgi to ER transport. Missense mutations of the COPA WD40 domain impair binding and sorting of proteins targeted for ER retrieval, but how this causes disease remains unknown. Given the importance of COPA in Golgi–ER transport, we speculated that type I interferon signaling in COPA syndrome involves missorting of STING. We show that a defect in COPI transport causes ligand-independent activation of STING. Furthermore, SURF4 is an adapter molecule that facilitates COPA-mediated retrieval of STING at the Golgi. Activated STING stimulates type I interferon–driven inflammation in CopaE241K/+ mice that is rescued in STING-deficient animals. Our results demonstrate that COPA maintains immune homeostasis by regulating STING transport at the Golgi. In addition, activated STING contributes to immune dysregulation in COPA syndrome and may be a new molecular target in treating the disease.

COPA syndrome is a recently described Mendelian autoimmune disorder caused by missense mutations in the Coatomer protein complex subunit alpha (COPA) gene. Patients with COPA syndrome develop arthritis and lung disease that presents as pulmonary hemorrhage or interstitial lung disease (ILD). Immunosuppressive medications can stabilize the disease, but many patients develop progressive pulmonary fibrosis that requires life-saving measures such as lung transplantation. Because very little is understood about the pathogenesis of COPA syndrome, it has been difficult to devise effective treatments for patients. To date, it remains unknown which cell types are critical for mediating the disease as well as the mechanisms that lead to autoimmunity. To explore these issues, we generated a CopaE241K/+ germline knock-in mouse bearing one of the same Copa missense mutations in patients. Mutant mice spontaneously developed ILD that mirrors lung pathology in patients, as well as elevations of activated cytokine-secreting T cells. Here we show that mutant Copa in epithelial cells of the thymus impairs the thymic selection of T cells and results in both an increase in autoreactive T cells and decrease in regulatory T cells in peripheral tissues. We demonstrate that T cells from CopaE241K/+ mice are pathogenic and cause ILD through adoptive transfer experiments. In conclusion, we establish a new mouse model of COPA syndrome to identify a previously unknown function for Copa in thymocyte selection and demonstrate that a defect in central tolerance is a putative mechanism by which COPA mutations lead to autoimmunity in patients.One Sentence SummaryA new mouse model of COPA syndrome develops lung pathology that recapitulates patients and reveals that T cells are important drivers of the disease.

Reconstituted thymus organ culture is based on fetal thymus organ culture (FTOC). Purified thymocyte populations, from genetically modified mice or even from other species, are cultured in vitro with thymic lobes depleted of their endogenous thymocytes (by 2'-deoxyguanosine treatment) to form a new thymus. This potent and timesaving method is distinct from FTOC, which assesses development of unmodified thymic lobes, and reaggregate thymic organ culture, in which epithelial cells are separately purified before being aggregated with thymocytes.