Journal
JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY
Volume 187, Issue 6, Pages 3186-3197Publisher
AMER ASSOC IMMUNOLOGISTS
DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.1101649
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft [KA 3091/1-1, SFB 576 TPA8, SFB 900]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Regulatory T cells (Treg) are key players in maintaining immune homeostasis but have also been shown to regulate immune responses against infectious pathogens. Therefore, Treg are a promising target for modulating immune responses to vaccines to improve their efficacy. Using a viral vector system, we found that Treg act on the developing immune response early postinfection by reducing the extent of dendritic cell costimulatory molecule expression. Due to this change and the lower IL-2 production that results, a substantial fraction of CD8(+) effector T cells lose CD25 expression several days after activation. Surprisingly, such Treg-dependent limitations in IL-2 signaling by Ag-activated CD8(+) T cells prevent effector differentiation without interfering with memory cell formation. In this way, Treg fine-tune the numbers of effector T cells generated while preserving the capacity for a rapid recall response upon pathogen re-exposure. This selective effect of Treg on a subpopulation of CD8(+) T cells indicates that although manipulation of the Treg compartment might not be optimal for prophylactic vaccinations, it can be potentially exploited to optimize vaccine efficacy for therapeutic interventions. The Journal of Immunology, 2011, 187: 3186-3197.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available