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Cellular tolerance as a dynamic state of the adaptable lymphocyte
1Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel.
Immunological Reviews
|June 1, 1993
Summary
Immunological tolerance is regulated by contextual discrimination, not just self-nonself. Individual lymphocytes adjust responsiveness, with anergy states offering plasticity for future immune responses.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Cell Biology
Background:
- Immunological tolerance traditionally focuses on self-nonself discrimination.
- The adaptive lymphocyte hypothesis proposes regulation at both population and individual cell levels.
Purpose of the Study:
- To re-evaluate immunological tolerance through the lens of contextual discrimination.
- To explain immune response dynamics using quantitative models.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing the 'balance of growth and differentiation model' for immune response kinetics.
- Applying the 'tunable activation-thresholds model' to understand anergic cell interactions.
Main Results:
- Immune response magnitude correlates with the rate of antigen appearance and system perturbation.
- Anergy is a state of altered responsiveness, allowing for cell viability, threshold tuning, and potential reprogramming.
- Anergic cells can mediate context-dependent immunological functions.
Conclusions:
- A unifying conceptual framework based on contextual discrimination and tunable thresholds explains key aspects of immunological tolerance.
- Advancing tolerance research requires integrated data analysis and pattern recognition methodologies.