CD4+CD25+ T cells facilitate the induction of T cell anergy

• T cell anergy is characterized by the inability of the T cell to produce IL-2 and proliferate. It is reversible by the addition of exogenous IL-2. A similar state of unresponsiveness is observed when the proliferative response of murine CD4+CD25- T cells is suppressed in vitro by coactivated CD4+CD25+ T cells. We have developed a suppression system that uses beads coated with anti-CD3 and anti-CD28 Abs as surrogate APCs to study the interaction of CD4+CD25+ and CD4+CD25- T cells in vitro. CD4+CD25+ T cell-induced suppression, in this model, was not abrogated by blocking the B7-CTLA-4 pathway. When the CD4+CD25- T cells were separated from the CD4+CD25+ suppressor cells after 24 h of coactivation by the Ab-coated beads, the CD4+CD25- T cells were unable to proliferate or to produce IL-2 upon restimulation. The induction of this anergic phenotype in the CD4+CD25- T cells correlated with the up-regulated expression of the gene related to anergy in lymphocytes (GRAIL), a novel anergy-related gene that acts as a negative regulator of IL-2 transcription. This system constitutes a novel mechanism of anergy induction in the presence of costimulation.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Medicinska och farmaceutiska grundvetenskaper (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Basic Medicine (hsv//eng)

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immunologi

Immunology

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