Regulation of Tert methylation alleviates food allergy via regulating the Tert-IL10 signal pathway

Abstract The pathogenesis of food allergy (FA) is still not fully understood. Telomerases are involved in the regulation of immune responses. The aim of this study is to understand the contribution of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) to the pathogenesis of FA. A murine FA model was established with ovalbumin as the specific antigen. This murine model was used to test the role of TERT in the regulation of dendritic cell (DC) immune tolerogenic functions. We observed that the Tert promoter was at demethylation status and the Tert expression was elevated in DCs of FA mice. The FA response was positively correlated with the Tert expression in DCs. Induction of Il10 expression in DCs was hindered by TERT. TERT hindered the immune tolerogenic functions of DCs. The immune tolerogenic functions of DC were restored by CpG by boosting the Tert promoter methylation. Administration of CpG promoted the therapeutic effects of allergen specific immunotherapy in FA mice. In conclusion, low levels of Il10 expression and high levels of Tert expression were observed in intestinal DCs of FA mice. CpG exposure restored the expression of Il10 and increased the therapeutic benefits of allergen-specific immunotherapy.