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Regulatory T cells turn pathogenic

Cellular & Molecular Immunology volume 12, pages 525–532 (2015)Cite this article

Abstract

Foxp3+ regulatory T (Treg) cells are considered a sub-lineage of CD4+ T cells that are protective against autoimmunity due to their essential roles in maintaining immune homeostasis and self-tolerance. However, Treg cells are unstable in vivo in terms of lineage specialization and suppressive function. These unstable Treg cells play roles in the pathogenesis of diseases, which cause safety concerns regarding human Treg cell therapy. In this review, we highlight recent findings that demonstrate the pathogenic conversion of Treg cells in different disease models.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key Basic Research and Development 973 Program of China (Grant No. 2012CB917102), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31270959) and a grant from the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No 2011M500422).

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  1. Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CASPMI), Beijing, China

    Jitao Guo & Xuyu Zhou

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Guo, J., Zhou, X. Regulatory T cells turn pathogenic. Cell Mol Immunol 12, 525–532 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/cmi.2015.12

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