The poor dispersibility, strong interlayer interaction, and inferior crack resistance ability restrict the employment of graphene as a lubricant additive. Herein, we prepared fluorinated graphene with different F/C ratios by direct fluorination of multilayer graphene utilizing F. Among them, highly fluorinated graphene (HFG) with an F/C ratio of about 1.0 presented prominent thermal stability and excellent tribological performance as an oil-based lubricant additive, whose friction coefficient and wear rate had a 51.4 and 90.9% decrease compared to that of pristine graphene, respectively. It was confirmed that C-F bonds perpendicular to the graphene plane contributed to increasing the interlayer distance and tribological performance of fluorinated graphene, while the randomly oriented CF and CF groups did not count as influential, as demonstrated via X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and polarized attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Meanwhile, Raman measurements traced the formation process of integrated and stable HFG tribofilm during friction process, and the corresponding stability was attributed to the physical and chemical interactions between HFG and friction pairs. More interestingly, the outstanding crack resistance ability of HFG preserved the sheet structure from destruction due to decreased in-plane stiffness and out-plane stress, thus constructing the tough tribofilm. The simple and feasible preparation makes HFG a promising candidate as advanced lubricant in industrial fabrication.

Retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor γ (RORγt) controls the differentiation of naive CD4(+) T cells into the TH17 lineage, which are critical cells in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases. Here we report that during TH17 differentiation, cholesterol biosynthesis and uptake programs are induced, whereas their metabolism and efflux programs are suppressed. These changes result in the accumulation of the cholesterol precursor, desmosterol, which functions as a potent endogenous RORγ agonist. Generation of cholesterol precursors is essential for TH17 differentiation as blocking cholesterol synthesis with chemical inhibitors at steps before the formation of active precursors reduces differentiation. Upon activation, metabolic changes also lead to production of specific sterol-sulfate conjugates that favor activation of RORγ over the TH17-inhibiting sterol receptor LXR. Thus, TH17 differentiation is orchestrated by coordinated sterol synthesis, mobilization and metabolism to selectively activate RORγ.

Interleukin 17 (IL-17) plays an important role in infection and autoimmunity; how it signals remains poorly understood. In this study, we identified ubiquitin-specific protease 25 (USP25) as a negative regulator of IL-17-mediated signaling and inflammation. Overexpression of USP25 inhibited IL-17-triggered signaling, while USP25 deficiency resulted in increased phosphorylation of IκBα and Jnk, increased expression of chemokines and cytokines as well as prolonged half-life of Cxcl1 mRNA following IL-17 treatment. Consistently, Usp25-/- mice exhibited increased sensitivity to IL-17-dependent inflammation and autoimmunity in vivo. Mechanistically, IL-17 stimulation induced the association of USP25 with TRAF5 and TRAF6 and USP25 induced removal of Act1-mediated K63-linked ubiquitination in TRAF5 and TRAF6. Thus, our results demonstrate that USP25 is a deubiquitinating enzyme (DUB) that negatively regulates IL-17-triggered signaling.

RORγt is the key transcription factor controlling the development and function of CD4+ Th17 and CD8+ Tc17 cells. Across a range of human tumors, about 15% of the CD4+ T cell fraction in tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes are RORγ+ cells. To evaluate the role of RORγ in antitumor immunity, we have identified synthetic, small molecule agonists that selectively activate RORγ to a greater extent than the endogenous agonist desmosterol. These RORγ agonists enhance effector function of Type 17 cells by increasing the production of cytokines/chemokines such as IL-17A and GM-CSF, augmenting expression of co-stimulatory receptors like CD137, CD226, and improving survival and cytotoxic activity. RORγ agonists also attenuate immunosuppressive mechanisms by curtailing Treg formation, diminishing CD39 and CD73 expression, and decreasing levels of co-inhibitory receptors including PD-1 and TIGIT on tumor-reactive lymphocytes. The effects of RORγ agonists were not observed in RORγ−/− T cells, underscoring the selective on-target activity of the compounds. In vitro treatment of tumor-specific T cells with RORγ agonists, followed by adoptive transfer to tumor-bearing mice is highly effective at controlling tumor growth while improving T cell survival and maintaining enhanced IL-17A and reduced PD-1 in vivo. The in vitro effects of RORγ agonists translate into single agent, immune system-dependent, antitumor efficacy when compounds are administered orally in syngeneic tumor models. RORγ agonists integrate multiple antitumor mechanisms into a single therapeutic that both increases immune activation and decreases immune suppression resulting in robust inhibition of tumor growth. Thus, RORγ agonists represent a novel immunotherapy approach for cancer.

Ubiquitin-specific protease 18 inhibits ubiquitination of TAK1–TAB complexes to restrict IL-2 production and promote Th17 differentiation and autoimmune responses.