The Journal of Experimental Medicine
Janeway's Immunobiology 7th Edition
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Published 15 July 2002. doi:10.1084/jem.20020394
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© Rockefeller University Press, 0022-1007/2002/7/255/ $5.00
The Journal of Experimental Medicine, Volume 196, Number 2, July 15, 2002 255-260


Brief Definitive Report

Infectious Tolerance : Human CD25+ Regulatory T Cells Convey Suppressor Activity to Conventional CD4+ T Helper Cells



Helmut Jonuleit1, Edgar Schmitt2, Hacer Kakirman1, Michael Stassen2, Jürgen Knop1 and Alexander H. Enk1

1 Department of Dermatology, University of Mainz, 55101 Mainz, Germany
2 Institute of Immunology, University of Mainz, 55101 Mainz, Germany

Address correspondence to H. Jonuleit, Dept. of Dermatology, University of Mainz, D-55101 Mainz, Germany. Phone: 49-6131-173541; Fax: 49-6131-175505 or 17-473541; E-mail: jonuleit{at}hautklinik.klinik.uni-mainz.de

Regulatory CD4+CD25+ T cells (Treg) are mandatory for maintaining immunologic self-tolerance. We demonstrate that the cell-cell contact–mediated suppression of conventional CD4+ T cells by human CD25+ Treg cells is fixation resistant, independent from membrane-bound TGF-ß but requires activation and protein synthesis of CD25+ Treg cells. Coactivation of CD25+ Treg cells with Treg cell–depleted CD4+ T cells results in anergized CD4+ T cells that in turn inhibit the activation of conventional, freshly isolated CD4+ T helper (Th) cells. This infectious suppressive activity, transferred from CD25+ Treg cells via cell contact, is cell contact–independent and partially mediated by soluble transforming growth factor (TGF)-ß. The induction of suppressive properties in conventional CD4+ Th cells represents a mechanism underlying the phenomenon of infectious tolerance. This explains previously published conflicting data on the role of TGF-ß in CD25+ Treg cell–induced immunosuppression.

Key Words: human regulatory T cells • CD4+CD25+ T cells • infectious tolerance • T cell inhibition • TGF-ß


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