Related Experiment Videos
Effector CD4 cells are tolerized upon exposure to parenchymal self-antigen
Amy D Higgins1, Marianne A Mihalyo, Adam J Adler
1Center for Immunotherapy of Cancer and Infectious Diseases, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT 06030, USA.
Journal of Immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950)
|September 24, 2002
Summary
Effector CD4 T cells can be tolerized, similar to naive T cells. This study shows effector T cells become tolerant when exposed to specific antigens without adjuvants, even in nonlymphoid tissues.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- T cell biology
- Immune tolerance
Background:
- Naive T cells exposed to antigens without adjuvants typically become tolerized.
- The susceptibility of effector CD4 T cells to tolerogenic stimuli is less understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether effector CD4 T cells can be tolerized.
- To compare the tolerogenic potential of stimuli on naive versus effector CD4 T cells.
Main Methods:
- Utilized an adoptive transfer system with TCR transgenic hemagglutinin (HA)-specific CD4(+) T cells.
- Primed naive T cells to effector status using a recombinant vaccinia virus expressing HA.
- Exposed effector T cells to tolerogenic forms of HA, including soluble peptide and cross-presented self-HA.
Main Results:
- HA-specific effector CD4 T cells in the spleen and nonlymphoid tissues were tolerized by high-dose soluble HA peptide.
- Tolerance was also induced by bone marrow-derived antigen-presenting cells (APCs) cross-presenting self-HA.
- Effector CD4 T cells demonstrated susceptibility to tolerogenic stimuli comparable to naive CD4 T cells.
Conclusions:
- Effector CD4 T cells are functionally plastic and can be induced into a tolerogenic state.
- The findings suggest that immune tolerance mechanisms can target both naive and effector T cell populations.
- This has implications for understanding autoimmune diseases and developing new immunotherapies.