Article abstract


Nature Immunology 9, 432 - 443 (2008)
Published online: 9 March 2008 | doi:10.1038/ni1574

Dual functions for the endoplasmic reticulum calcium sensors STIM1 and STIM2 in T cell activation and tolerance

Masatsugu Oh-hora1, Megumi Yamashita2, Patrick G Hogan1, Sonia Sharma1, Ed Lamperti1, Woo Chung2, Murali Prakriya2, Stefan Feske1,3 & Anjana Rao1


Store-operated Ca2+ entry through calcium release–activated calcium channels is the chief mechanism for increasing intracellular Ca2+ in immune cells. Here we show that mouse T cells and fibroblasts lacking the calcium sensor STIM1 had severely impaired store-operated Ca2+ influx, whereas deficiency in the calcium sensor STIM2 had a smaller effect. However, T cells lacking either STIM1 or STIM2 had much less cytokine production and nuclear translocation of the transcription factor NFAT. T cell–specific ablation of both STIM1 and STIM2 resulted in a notable lymphoproliferative phenotype and a selective decrease in regulatory T cell numbers. We conclude that both STIM1 and STIM2 promote store-operated Ca2+ entry into T cells and fibroblasts and that STIM proteins are required for the development and function of regulatory T cells.

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  1. Harvard Medical School and Immune Disease Institute, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
  2. Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Biological Chemistry, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois 60611, USA.
  3. Present address: Department of Pathology, New York University, School of Medicine, New York, New York 10016, USA.

Correspondence to: Anjana Rao1 e-mail: arao@cbr.med.harvard.edu

Correspondence to: Stefan Feske1,3 e-mail: stefan.feske@med.nyu.edu



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