Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 14, 2025
18:48
In Vitro and In Vivo Assessment of T, B and Myeloid Cells Suppressive Activity and Humoral Responses from Transplant Recipients
Published on: August 12, 2017
14.5K
Cell-intrinsic CD4 T cell tolerance: a new frontier in therapy?
Alexandra Cassano1, Domenic Abbondanza1, Anita S Chong2
1Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
Trends in Immunology
|July 24, 2025
Summary
CD4 T cell tolerance, crucial for immune balance, involves intrinsic pathways like anergy and exhaustion. These states, sharing molecular features, offer therapeutic targets for conditions like cancer and autoimmunity.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- CD4 T cell tolerance is vital for immune homeostasis.
- Mechanisms underlying CD4 T cell tolerance are not fully understood.
- Regulatory T cells (Tregs) contribute to T cell-extrinsic tolerance.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review CD4 T cell-intrinsic tolerance pathways: anergy and exhaustion.
- To explore shared transcriptional and epigenomic features of these tolerance states.
- To discuss therapeutic targeting of CD4 T cell tolerance.
Main Methods:
- Literature review focusing on CD4 T cell-intrinsic tolerance.
- Analysis of shared molecular features in anergy and exhaustion.
- Discussion of therapeutic strategies and targets, including CD154.
Main Results:
- Anergy and exhaustion are CD4 T cell-intrinsic pathways triggered by antigen stimulation.
- These tolerance states share transcriptional and epigenomic characteristics.
- CD4 T cell tolerance exists on a spectrum with therapeutic potential.
Conclusions:
- Understanding CD4 T cell tolerance mechanisms is key for therapeutic development.
- Targeting CD154 shows promise, but memory T cell tolerization is challenging.
- Inducing/maintaining tolerance or restoring T cell function requires deeper insights into tolerance pathways.
Related Concept Videos
01:20Special Features of Adaptive Immunity
1.1K
The adaptive immune system, a crucial component of the overall immune response, offers a highly specialized defense against pathogens. It involves specific cell types and features, enabling it to combat infections effectively and efficiently.
The primary cell types involved in adaptive immunity are T cells and B cells. Each type has a unique role in defending the body against pathogens. T cells are responsible for cell-mediated immunity. They identify and eliminate infected cells directly,...
The primary cell types involved in adaptive immunity are T cells and B cells. Each type has a unique role in defending the body against pathogens. T cells are responsible for cell-mediated immunity. They identify and eliminate infected cells directly,...
1.1K
01:22T Cell Activation and Clonal Selection
4.9K
T cells are integral to our adaptive immune system, recognizing and effectively responding to foreign antigens. T cell activation and clonal selection are pivotal in orchestrating this immune response. This article elucidates these mechanisms, detailing the roles of cluster of differentiation (CD) markers, major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules, costimulatory signals, and the process of clonal selection.
Naive T cells that have not yet encountered an antigen express two primary CD...
Naive T cells that have not yet encountered an antigen express two primary CD...
4.9K
01:40Cell-mediated Immune Responses
72.9K
Overview
72.9K
01:27Tumor Immunotherapy
662
Immunotherapy is a treatment that boosts or manipulates the immune system to fight diseases, including cancer. For instance, by stimulating an immune response through vaccinations against viruses that cause cancers, like hepatitis B virus and human papillomavirus, these diseases can be prevented. Nonetheless, some cancer cells can avoid the immune system due to their rapid mutation and division. The immune response to many cancers involves three phases: elimination, equilibrium, and escape.
662
01:27Cytotoxic T Cells-mediated Immune Response
2.1K
Cytotoxic T cells are a vital component of the immune system. They have the remarkable ability to identify and target antigens on infected or abnormal cells. These antigens often originate from intracellular pathogens such as viruses or abnormal proteins cancer cells produce.
Immunological surveillance is the ability of immune cells to monitor and eliminate infected cells with intracellular pathogens, neoplastically transformed cells, and cells with non-self antigens. Cytotoxic T cells and NK...
Immunological surveillance is the ability of immune cells to monitor and eliminate infected cells with intracellular pathogens, neoplastically transformed cells, and cells with non-self antigens. Cytotoxic T cells and NK...
2.1K
01:24T Cell Types and Functions
1.4K
When T cells with CD4 markers are activated, they give rise to two types of effector cells: helper T cells and regulatory T cells. Meanwhile, T cells with CD8 markers differentiate into effector cytotoxic T cells. The differentiation of CD4 T cells into helper T cell subsets, such as Th1, Th2, and Th17 cells, is dependent on the antigen type, antigen-presenting cell, and regulatory cytokines.
Th1 cells stimulate dendritic cells to express necessary co-stimulatory molecules on their surfaces for...
Th1 cells stimulate dendritic cells to express necessary co-stimulatory molecules on their surfaces for...
1.4K