A Coordinated Dance of Effector and Regulatory T Cells that are Reactive to Different Determinants in Autoimmune...

This article is about my amazing immunological journey for more than a decade with Eli Sercarz as an achaarya, which in Sanskrit means enlightened mentor. My training and routine interactions with colleagues not only at Eli's laboratory but at University of California at Los Angeles, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies, and University of California, San Diego School of Medicine were instrumental in my continued quest to understand how activation of autoimmune inflammatory cells results in pathology and how inflammatory responses are controlled to keep us healthy. I briefly outline different aspects of immune principles related to the immune response to a self-antigen myelin basic protein (MBP) that induces experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, a prototype for multiple sclerosis, and how a coordinated interactive network of regulatory T cells (Tregs) CD4+ (CD4 Tregs) and CD8+ (CD8 Tregs) control the anti-MBP response to maintain immune homeostasis. Eli was my mentor, collaborator, and friend, an incredible human being, and dear member of our extended family. This article is written in his memory with unconditional gratitude.