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Updated: Nov 12, 2025

Adenoviral Transduction of Naive CD4 T Cells to Study Treg Differentiation
Published on: August 13, 2013
Adiponectin-expressing Treg facilitate T lymphocyte development in thymic nurse cell complexes
Yiwei Zhang1,2, Handi Cao1,2, Jie Chen1,2,3
1The State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Adiponectin is a well-known insulin sensitizer and anti-inflammatory molecule, possessing therapeutic potentials in cardiovascular, metabolic and cancer diseases. Results of the present study demonstrate that adiponectin is expressed in a population of regulatory T-cells (Treg) resided within the thymic nurse cell (TNC) complexes. Adoptive transfer of adiponectin-expressing Treg precursors effectively attenuated obesity, improved glucose and insulin tolerance, prevented fatty liver injuries in wild-type mice fed a high-fat diet, and significantly inhibited breast cancer development in MMTV-PyVT transgenic mice. Within the TNC complexes, locally produced adiponectin bound to and regulated the expression as well as the distribution of CD100, a transmembrane lymphocyte semaphorin, in turn modulating the lymphoepithelial interactions to facilitate T-cell development and maturation. In summary, adiponectin plays an important role in the selection and development of T lymphocytes within the TNC complexes. Adiponectin-expressing Treg represent a promising candidate for adoptive cell immunotherapy against obesity-related metabolic and cancer diseases.
Adiponectin is a well-known insulin sensitizer and anti-inflammatory molecule, possessing therapeutic potentials in cardiovascular, metabolic and cancer diseases. Results of the present study demonstrate that adiponectin is expressed in a population of regulatory T-cells (Treg) resided within the thymic nurse cell (TNC) complexes. Adoptive transfer of adiponectin-expressing Treg precursors effectively attenuated obesity, improved glucose and insulin tolerance, prevented fatty liver injuries in wild-type mice fed a high-fat diet, and significantly inhibited breast cancer development in MMTV-PyVT transgenic mice. Within the TNC complexes, locally produced adiponectin bound to and regulated the expression as well as the distribution of CD100, a transmembrane lymphocyte semaphorin, in turn modulating the lymphoepithelial interactions to facilitate T-cell development and maturation. In summary, adiponectin plays an important role in the selection and development of T lymphocytes within the TNC complexes. Adiponectin-expressing Treg represent a promising candidate for adoptive cell immunotherapy against obesity-related metabolic and cancer diseases.
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