Learning to live together: harnessing regulatory T cells to induce organ transplant tolerance

The discovery of immune cells with regulatory effects has created considerable excitement for their potential use in inducing tolerance to transplanted tissues. Despite the fact that these cells possess essential functions in vivo, attempts to translate them into effective clinical therapies has proved challenging due to a number of unanticipated complexities in their behavior. This article provides a broad summary of research done to understand the largest of the regulatory cell subtypes, namely CD4+Foxp3+ Regulatory T cells (T(Regs)). Special attention will be paid to current and future difficulties in using T(Regs) clinically, as well as room for improvement and innovation in this field.