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Updated: Aug 12, 2026

Adenoviral Transduction of Naive CD4 T Cells to Study Treg Differentiation
Published on: August 13, 2013
Regulating T helper cell immunity through antigen responsiveness and calcium entry
G Bikah1, R R Pogue-Caley, L J McHeyzer-Williams
1Department of Immunology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
Abstract:
We evaluated changes in the signaling potentials and proliferative capacity of single antigen-specific T helper (TH) cells during a primary immune response to a protein antigen. At the peak of cellular expansion in vivo all antigen-specific TH cells exhibited a profound block in CD3- and CD4-mediated mobilization of intracellular calcium together with a more global block in T cell receptor-independent capacitative calcium entry (CCE). The proliferative response of these antigen-specific TH cells to anti-CD3, anti-CD28 and IL-2 was also severely blunted. Cross-linking CD69 on a substantial fraction of CD69+ antigen-specific TH cells relieved this block in CCE and restored proliferative capacity in vitro. The CCE rescue operated through a CD69-coupled G protein and required calcium-bound calmodulin and calcineurin. These data reveal critical changes in the responsiveness of antigen-specific TH cells and provide evidence of new mechanisms for the regulation of antigen-specific TH cell development in vivo.
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