Anergic T cells as suppressor cells in vitro

G Lombardi1, S Sidhu, R Batchelor

  • 1Department of Immunology, Royal Postgraduate Medical School, London, UK.

Science (New York, N.Y.)
|June 10, 1994
PubMed

T cell-mediated suppression is an established phenomenon, but its underlying mechanisms are obscure. An in vitro system was used to test the possibility that anergic T cells can act as specific suppressor cells. Anergic human T cells caused inhibition of antigen-specific and allospecific T cell proliferation. In order for the inhibition to occur, the anergic T cells had to be specific for the same antigen-presenting cells (APCs) as the T cells that were suppressed. The mechanism of this suppression appears to be competition for the APC surface and for locally produced interleukin-2.