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Updated: May 19, 2026

Development of Stem Cell-derived Antigen-specific Regulatory T Cells Against Autoimmunity
Published on: November 8, 2016
Hydrogen peroxide as an immunological transmitter regulating autoreactive T cells
Rikard Holmdahl1, Outi Sareila, Angela Pizzolla
1Medical Inflammation Research, MBB, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. Rikard.Holmdahl@ki.se
Significance:
An unexpected finding, revealed by positional cloning of genetic polymorphisms controlling models for rheumatoid arthritis, exposed a new function of Ncf1 and NADPH oxidase (NOX) 2 controlled oxidative burst.
Recent Advances:
A decreased capacity to produce ROS due to a natural polymorphism was found to be the major factor leading to more severe arthritis and increased T cell-dependent autoimmunity.
Critical Issues:
In the vein of this finding, we here review a possible new role of ROS in regulating inflammatory cell and autoreactive T cell activity. It is postulated that peroxide is an immunologic transmitter secreted by antigen-presenting cells that downregulate the responses by autoreactive T cells.
Future Directions:
This may operate at different levels of T cell selection and activation: during negative selection in the thymus, priming of T cells in draining lymph nodes, and while interacting with macrophages in peripheral target tissues.
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