Sasaki, Y.; Numakura, T.; Yamada, M.; Sugiura, H.; Matsunaga, T.; Ida, T.; Morita, M.; Suzuki, A.; Matsumoto, S.; Kawaguchi, M.; Kawabe, T.; Tayama, S.; Okuyama, Y.; Takata, T.; Inaba, K.; Watanabe, S.; Suzuki, M.; Sano, H.; Kyogoku, Y.; Tanaka, R.; Mitsune, A.; Ichikawa, T.; Fujino, N.; Tamada, T.; Ishii, N.; Ichinose, M.; Akaike, T.; Motohashi, H.

Immunometabolism regulates functions and fates of immune cells including T cells. Supersulphides, which are universal metabolites containing catenated sulphur atoms, have various physiological functions based on their unique redox properties. Here we found that activation of T-cell receptor (TCR) signalling was accompanied by supersulphide decrease, which suggests a regulatory contribution of sulphur metabolism to immune function. Consistently, inhibiting supersulphide synthesis facilitated TCR activation and exacerbated allergen-induced type 2 inflammation in mice. Supplementation with glutathione trisulphide (GSSSG), a major endogenous supersulphide, suppressed TCR signalling in naive CD4+ T cells and their differentiation and effectively alleviated the inflammation. Docking simulation revealed interaction of GSSSG with CD3e chain in the TCR/CD3 complex, which was supported by mass spectrometry detection of persulphidated glutathionylation at a functionally important CXXC motif of CD3e chain. This study identified a new post-translational modification with supersulfides and demonstrated a critical contribution of sulphur metabolism to TCR signalling regulation.