CD4+ Tregs and immune control
Zoltán Fehérvari, Shimon Sakaguchi
Zoltán Fehérvari, Shimon Sakaguchi
Published November 1, 2004
Citation Information: J Clin Invest. 2004;114(9):1209-1217. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI23395.
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Review Series

CD4+ Tregs and immune control

Abstract

Recent years have seen Tregs become a popular subject of immunological research. Abundant experimental data have now confirmed that naturally occurring CD25+CD4+ Tregs in particular play a key role in the maintenance of self tolerance, with their dysfunction leading to severe or even fatal immunopathology. The sphere of influence of Tregs is now known to extend well beyond just the maintenance of immunological tolerance and to impinge on a host of clinically important areas from cancer to infectious diseases. The identification of specific molecular markers in both human and murine immune systems has enabled the unprecedented investigation of these cells and should prove key to ultimately unlocking their clinical potential.

Authors

Zoltán Fehérvari, Shimon Sakaguchi

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Figure 1

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Regulatory CD4+ cells can develop in a number of ways, although the mech...
Regulatory CD4+ cells can develop in a number of ways, although the mechanisms by which these occur and the relationship of the resulting cells to one another are contestable. Thymically generated Treg cells, otherwise known as natural TR cells or CD25+CD4+ TR cells, develop intrathymically according to a specialized combination of TCR and costimulatory signals. Extrathymically generated TR cells, e.g., Tr1 cells or Th3 cells, can be generated under a whole host of conditions. Whether a conventional naive CD4+ T cell can be converted in the periphery to a de facto Foxp3+ TR cell remains controversial.