Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

TNF-α trips up Treg cells in rheumatoid arthritis

Nature Medicine volume 19, pages 269–270 (2013)Cite this article

Subjects

Regulatory T (Treg) cells are important for protecting against pathogenic T cell responses, and impaired Treg functions have been linked with autoimmune diseases. A recent study reveals a new mechanism for the inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in rheumatoid arthritis, showing that it disables Treg cells by affecting the phosphorylation and function of a key transcription factor expressed in these cells (pages 322–328).

Rheumatoid arthritis is a common autoimmune inflammatory disorder of the synovium, or lining of the joints. It is often chronic and debilitating, and current therapies are not satisfactory for all patients. In this issue of Nature Medicine, Nie et al.1 identify a TNF-α–dependent process that disables the immune system's ability to control inflammation and that may point the way to accessible new clinical interventions for immune-mediated diseases.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy article

Get time limited or full article access on ReadCube.

$32.00

Buy

All prices are NET prices.

Figure 1: Regulation of FOXP3 phosphorylation mediates Treg suppressive function in rheumatoid arthritis.

Marina Corral

References

  1. Nie, H. et al. Nat. Med. 19, 322–328 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Buckner, J.H. Nat. Rev. Immunol. 10, 849–859 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Esensten, J.H., Wofsy, D. & Bluestone, J.A. Nat. Rev. Rheumatol. 5, 560–565 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Rudra, D. et al. Nat. Immunol. 13, 1010–1019 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Fu, W. et al. Nat. Immunol. 13, 972–980 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Zanin-Zhorov, A. et al. Science 328, 372–376 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Josefowicz, S.Z. et al. Nature 482, 395–399 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Chen, L. et al. J. Invest. Dermatol. 133, 418–428 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Koch, M.A. et al. Nat. Immunol. 10, 595–602 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Hall, A.O. et al. Immunity 37, 511–523 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jonathan Bromberg is in the Department of Surgery, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.,

    Jonathan Bromberg

Authors
  1. Jonathan Bromberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jonathan Bromberg.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bromberg, J. TNF-α trips up Treg cells in rheumatoid arthritis. Nat Med 19, 269–270 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.3124

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.3124

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing