Access
To read this article in full you may need to log in, make a payment or gain access through a site license (see right).
Review
Nature Reviews Immunology 3, 223–232 (1 March 2003) | doi:10.1038/nri1029
Antigen-induced regulatory T cells in autoimmunity
&
Abstract
The ultimate goal of any treatment for autoimmune diseases is antigen- and/or site-specific suppression of pathology. Autoaggressive lymphocytes need to be eliminated or controlled to prevent tissue damage and halt the progression of clinical disease. Strong evidence is emerging that the induction of regulatory T (TReg) cells by autoantigens can suppress disease, even if the primary, initiating autoantigens are unknown and if inflammation is progressive. An advantage of these autoreactive TReg cells is their ability to act as bystander suppressors and dampen inflammation in a site-specific manner in response to cognate antigen expressed locally by affected tissues. In this review, we consider the nature and function of such antigen-specific TReg cells, and strategies for their therapeutic induction are discussed.
To read this article in full you may need to log in, make a payment or gain access through a site license (see right).
