Human CD4+ regulatory T cells express lower levels of the IL-7 receptor alpha chain (CD127), allowing consistent identification and sorting of live cells

DJ Hartigan-O'Connor, C Poon, E Sinclair… - Journal of …, 2007 - Elsevier
Although quantitative identification and viable enrichment of natural regulatory T cells (T-
regs) in humans are problematic, such steps would greatly facilitate the analysis of these
cells in disease states. In an attempt to identify markers that are sensitive and specific for
human T-regs, we analyzed the expression of fourteen intracellular and cell surface markers
on human CD4+ cells. Many markers were partially selective for CD25hi T-regs, but
consistent and specific discrimination of functional T-regs was only made possible by focus …