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Updated: Jun 23, 2026

Adenoviral Transduction of Naive CD4 T Cells to Study Treg Differentiation
Published on: August 13, 2013
The transcription factor T-bet controls regulatory T cell homeostasis and function during type 1 inflammation
Meghan A Koch1, Glady's Tucker-Heard, Nikole R Perdue
1Benaroya Research Institute, Seattle, Washington, USA.
Abstract:
Several subsets of Foxp3(+) regulatory T cells (T(reg) cells) work in concert to maintain immune homeostasis. However, the molecular bases underlying the phenotypic and functional diversity of T(reg) cells remain obscure. We show that in response to interferon-gamma, Foxp3(+) T(reg) cells upregulated the T helper type 1 (T(H)1)-specifying transcription factor T-bet. T-bet promoted expression of the chemokine receptor CXCR3 on T(reg) cells, and T-bet(+) T(reg) cells accumulated at sites of T(H)1 cell-mediated inflammation. Furthermore, T-bet expression was required for the homeostasis and function of T(reg) cells during type 1 inflammation. Thus, in a subset of CD4(+) T cells, the activities of the transcription factors Foxp3 and T-bet are overlaid, which results in T(reg) cells with unique homeostatic and migratory properties optimized for the suppression of T(H)1 responses in vivo.
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