IPEX due to an exon 7 skipping FOXP3 mutation with autoimmune diabetes mellitus cured by selective TReg cell engraftment

Abstract

Immune dysregulation, polyendocrinopathy, enteropathy, X-linked (IPEX) syndrome is a rare inherited disorder leading to severe organ-specific autoimmunity. IPEX is caused by hemizygous mutations in FOXP3, which codes for a master transcription factor of regulatory T (T_Reg) cell development and function. We describe a four-year-old boy with typical but slightly delayed-onset of IPEX with autoimmune diabetes mellitus, enteropathy, hepatitis and skin disease. We found the unreported FOXP3 splice site mutation c.816+2T>A that leads to the loss of leucine-zipper coding exon 7. RNA-Seq revealed that FOXP3Δ7 leads to differential expression of FOXP3 regulated genes. After myeloablative conditioning the patient underwent allogeneic HSCT from a matched unrelated donor. HSCT led to the resolution of all IPEX symptoms including insulin requirement despite persisting autoantibody levels. After initial full donor engraftment nearly complete autologous reconstitution was documented, but donor-derived T_Reg cells persisted with a lineage-specific chimerism of >70% and the patient remained in clinical remission.

Keywords: Autoimmune diabetes mellitus; FOXP3; HSCT; IPEX; Splice site mutation; T(Reg).