Regulatory T Cells in Hepatic Immune Tolerance and Autoimmune Liver Diseases

2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (Suppl. 2) ◽  
pp. 70-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Herkel
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
Regulatory T Cells ◽  
Immune Responses ◽  
Immune Tolerance ◽  
Liver Diseases ◽  
Liver Sinusoidal Endothelial Cells ◽  
Autoimmune Liver Diseases ◽  
Specific Control

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) have a profound ability to control immune responses. A majority of Tregs are derived from the thymus; yet a substantial Treg fraction is derived from the periphery. The liver seems to be an important source of peripherally derived Tregs. Indeed, the liver's well-known ability to induce immune tolerance is at least partly based on hepatic Treg generation. With recently developed tools to deliver antigens to tolerance-inducing liver cells, it is now possible to harness liver-derived Tregs for specific control of unwanted immune responses. Indeed, the selective delivery of autoantigens to liver sinusoidal endothelial cells could induce autoantigen-specific Tregs in vivo, providing effective treatment of autoimmune disease. Owing to the fundamental role Tregs play in controlling immune responses, an impairment of Tregs seems to be a plausible explanation for the development of autoimmune diseases, for example, in the liver. However, the actual role of Treg impairment in autoimmune liver diseases, such as autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), remains controversial. Major obstacles for clarifying the role of Tregs in autoimmune liver diseases are related to the difficulty to identify human Tregs unambiguously and to the difficulty to identify those Tregs and effector T cells that specifically recognize disease-driving autoantigens. However, even if AIH turned out to be a disease that is not driven by Treg impairment, Treg-based therapies for autoimmune liver diseases might still be effective, provided the Tregs for therapeutic use recognize the relevant antigens.

scholarly journals Hepatocellular carcinoma in viral and autoimmune liver diseases: Role of CD4+ CD25+ Foxp3+ regulatory T cells in the immune microenvironment

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (22) ◽  
pp. 2994-3009
Author(s):  
Alessandro Granito ◽  
Luigi Muratori ◽  
Claudine Lalanne ◽  
Chiara Quarneti ◽  
Silvia Ferri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽  
T Cells ◽  
Regulatory T Cells ◽  
Liver Diseases ◽  
Immune Microenvironment ◽  
Autoimmune Liver Diseases

scholarly journals Thymic Regulatory T Cell Development: Role of Signalling Pathways and Transcription Factors

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Engel ◽  
Tom Sidwell ◽  
Ajithkumar Vasanthakumar ◽  
George Grigoriadis ◽  
Ashish Banerjee
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
Transcription Factors ◽  
T Cell ◽  
Regulatory T Cells ◽  
Immune Tolerance ◽  
Regulatory T Cell ◽  
T Cell Development ◽  
Signalling Pathways ◽  
Treg Development

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are a subset of CD4 T cells that are key mediators of immune tolerance. Most Tregs develop in the thymus. In this review we summarise recent findings on the role of diverse signalling pathways and downstream transcription factors in thymic Treg development.

Cytotoxic Activity Of Bispecific Antibody-Redirected Human Regulatory T Cells: Fact Or Artifact

Blood ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 122 (21) ◽  
pp. 5430-5430
Author(s):  
Stefanie Koristka ◽  
Marc Cartellieri ◽  
Anja Feldmann ◽  
Claudia Arndt ◽  
Irene Michalk ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
Regulatory T Cells ◽  
Immune Responses ◽  
Tumor Cell ◽  
Cell Lysis ◽  
In Vivo Studies ◽  
Target Cells ◽  
Cytotoxic Potential

Abstract Regulatory T cells (Tregs) play an inevitable role in immune homeostasis by maintaining self-tolerance as well as regulating the magnitude of immune responses against foreign antigens. Over the last few years, the enormous potential of adoptive Treg transfer for treatment of auto- and alloimmunity including Graft-versus-Host disease (GvHD) has been validated in a vast number of in vitro and in vivo studies. For their clinical application, all modes of action should be well understood. Regarding their cytotoxic potential, only few and conflicting data exist. On the one hand, it is assumed that Tregs are capable of inducing apoptosis of effector T cells (Teff) utilizing granzyme/perforin or FasL expression. Others claim that Tregs are not capable of suppressing Teff via programmed cell death pathways but rather induce apoptosis by cytokine deprivation. However, it is of importance to clarify whether Tregs possess a cytotoxic potential particularly when activating the cells antigen-specifically using bispecific antibodies (bsAb). In recent years, bsAb have emerged as promising tools for an antigen-specific immunotherapy of malignant diseases. Their tremendous potential for tumor therapy has been verified in a plethora of in vitro and in vivo studies as well as in first clinical trials. So far, our group was able to demonstrate that not only Teff but also Tregs can be redirected by CD3-engaging bsAb (Koristka et al., J Immunol. 2012; J Autoimmun. 2013). According to a recent presentation (Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, 2012, abstract nr 4841), bsAb-redirected Tregs can act as killer cells and efficiently mediate cancer cell lysis. In order to shed light onto this controversial issue, we decided to analyze this question in more detail. According to our investigations tumor cell elimination of bsAb-engaged Tregs is largely dependent on the purity of isolated Treg fractions. Tregs isolated on the basis of CD25 expression exhibited a remarkable killing capacity which is most probably due to contaminating CD25+FOXP3- Teff, as highly pure (> 99 %), FACS-isolated CD4+CD25+CD127low Tregs did not display any considerable cytotoxic effect upon cross-linkage to tumor cells via bsAb. The same applies for CD45RA-sorted, expanded Tregs. In comparison to autologous, expanded Teff, tumor cell lysis was negligible. Moreover, the lack of cytotoxicity was independent of the chosen target antigen, as redirecting Tregs with two different bsAb did not result in tumor cell eradication. Besides, upon polyclonal stimulation with conventional aCD3/CD28-coated beads Tregs were not capable of eliminating target cells. Furthermore, as opposed to autologous Teff, Tregs showed only a marginal upregulation of the degranulation marker CD107a when being activated either antigen-specifically via bsAb or polyclonally via beads. Taken together, our findings clearly demonstrate that Tregs bear no considerable cytotoxic potential and hence do not contribute to cancer cell lysis, as recently claimed. On the other hand, the results show that Tregs can be activated by bsAb without the risk of cytotoxic effects against the recognized target cells. This provides the basis for the application of bsAb for a site-specific recruitment of Tregs aiming at attenuating Teff-mediated proinflammatory immune responses and tissue destruction in order to treat auto- and alloimmune diseases including GvHD. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

The role of cytokines in immunological tolerance: potential for therapy

2000 ◽  
Vol 2 (9) ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Harber ◽  
Anette Sundstedt ◽  
David Wraith
Keyword(s):  
Immune Response ◽  
T Cells ◽  
Immune System ◽  
Animal Models ◽  
Regulatory T Cells ◽  
Immune Responses ◽  
Immunological Tolerance ◽  
Immunomodulatory Effects ◽  
Clinical Potential

Current immunosuppression protocols, although often effective, are nonspecific and therefore hazardous. Consequently, immunological tolerance that is antigen specific and does not globally depress the patient's immune system has become one of the Holy Grails of immunology. Since the discovery that cytokines have immunomodulatory effects, extensive research has investigated the potential of these molecules to induce and maintain specific immunological tolerance in the context of transplantation, allergy and autoimmunity. In this article, we review the possible mechanisms by which cytokines can modulate the immune response and the animal models that frequently confound the theory that a single cytokine, or group of cytokines, can induce tolerance in a predictable manner. Finally, we discuss the role of cytokines at a paracrine level, particularly in the context of inducing and maintaining antigen-specific, regulatory T cells with the clinical potential to suppress specific immune responses.

scholarly journals CD4+ CD25+ Regulatory T Cells Control T Helper Cell Type 1 Responses to Foreign Antigens Induced by Mature Dendritic Cells In Vivo

2003 ◽  
Vol 198 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillaume Oldenhove ◽  
Magali de Heusch ◽  
Georgette Urbain-Vansanten ◽  
Jacques Urbain ◽  
Charlie Maliszewski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
Dendritic Cells ◽  
Regulatory T Cells ◽  
Immune Responses ◽  
Peripheral Tolerance ◽  
T Helper Cell ◽  
Helper Cell ◽  
T Helper

Recent evidence suggests that in addition to their well known stimulatory properties, dendritic cells (DCs) may play a major role in peripheral tolerance. It is still unclear whether a distinct subtype or activation status of DC exists that promotes the differentiation of suppressor rather than effector T cells from naive precursors. In this work, we tested whether the naturally occurring CD4+ CD25+ regulatory T cells (Treg) may control immune responses induced by DCs in vivo. We characterized the immune response induced by adoptive transfer of antigen-pulsed mature DCs into mice depleted or not of CD25+ cells. We found that the development of major histocompatibility complex class I and II–restricted interferon γ–producing cells was consistently enhanced in the absence of Treg. By contrast, T helper cell (Th)2 priming was down-regulated in the same conditions. This regulation was independent of interleukin 10 production by DCs. Of note, splenic DCs incubated in vitro with Toll-like receptor ligands (lipopolysaccharide or CpG) activated immune responses that remained sensitive to Treg function. Our data further show that mature DCs induced higher cytotoxic activity in CD25-depleted recipients as compared with untreated hosts. We conclude that Treg naturally exert a negative feedback mechanism on Th1-type responses induced by mature DCs in vivo.

scholarly journals New differentiation pathway for double-negative regulatory T cells that regulates the magnitude of immune responses

Blood ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 109 (9) ◽  
pp. 4071-4079 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dong Zhang ◽  
Wei Yang ◽  
Nicolas Degauque ◽  
Yan Tian ◽  
Allison Mikita ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
T Cell ◽  
Regulatory T Cells ◽  
Cell Surface ◽  
Immune Responses ◽  
Lymphoid Tissues ◽  
Double Negative ◽  
Healthy Humans

Abstract Recent studies have demonstrated that in peripheral lymphoid tissues of normal mice and healthy humans, 1% to 5% of αβ T-cell receptor–positive (TCR+) T cells are CD4−CD8− (double-negative [DN]) T cells, capable of down-regulating immune responses. However, the origin and developmental pathway of DN T cells is still not clear. In this study, by monitoring CD4 expression during T-cell proliferation and differentiation, we identified a new differentiation pathway for the conversion of CD4+ T cells to DN regulatory T cells. We showed that the converted DN T cells retained a stable phenotype after restimulation and that furthermore, the disappearance of cell-surface CD4 molecules on converted DN T cells was a result of CD4 gene silencing. The converted DN T cells were resistant to activation-induced cell death (AICD) and expressed a unique set of cell-surface markers and gene profiles. These cells were highly potent in suppressing alloimmune responses both in vitro and in vivo in an antigen-specific manner. Perforin was highly expressed by the converted DN regulatory T cells and played a role in DN T-cell–mediated suppression. Our findings thus identify a new differentiation pathway for DN regulatory T cells and uncover a new intrinsic homeostatic mechanism that regulates the magnitude of immune responses. This pathway provides a novel, cell-based, therapeutic approach for preventing allograft rejection.

scholarly journals In vivo induction of regulatory T cells for immune tolerance in hemophilia

2016 ◽  
Vol 301 ◽  
pp. 18-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaomei Wang ◽  
Cox Terhorst ◽  
Roland W. Herzog
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
Regulatory T Cells ◽  
Immune Tolerance ◽  
In Vivo Induction

scholarly journals Mechanisms of Immunosuppression By FVIII-Specific TCR Engineered Human Regulatory T Cells

Blood ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 126 (23) ◽  
pp. 3514-3514
Author(s):  
Yong Chan Kim ◽  
Ai-Hong Zhang ◽  
Jeong Heon Yoon ◽  
David William Scott
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
T Cell ◽  
Regulatory T Cells ◽  
Immune Responses ◽  
Immune Tolerance ◽  
Hemophilia A ◽  
Culture Media ◽  
Cell Contact ◽  
Suppressive Function

Abstract Expanded antigen-specific engineered regulatory T cells (Tregs) have been proposed for potential clinical application for the treatment of undesirable immune responses, such as inhibitor responses in hemophilia A patients and autoimmune diseases. By providing an antigen-specific T-cell receptor (TCR) to polyclonal natural Tregs, we suggested that antigen-specific engineered Tregs would migrate specifically to particular target tissues and induce antigen-specific immune tolerance in the local milieu. Previously, we developed FVIII C2-specific Tregs using a long-term stabilization protocol in vitro and demonstrated that these stabilized engineered Tregs successfully modulated FVIII-specific T-cell- and B-cell immune responses. Herein, we examined the mechanism of suppression by antigen-specific engineered Tregs compared to polyclonal normal natural Tregs. Initially, we tested whether these FVIII-specific engineered Tregs were able to suppress neighboring activated T-cell effectors locally. We found that FVIII C2-specific Tregs strongly suppressed myelin basic protein (MBP)-specific T effectors by presentation of both specific antigens in same APC population. However, we also observed that C2-specific Tregs could suppress MBP-specific T effectors presented on different APCs. These results imply contactless suppressive function of C2-specific engineered Tregs. Using a modified trans-well suppression assay, in which physical distance and clear separation between Tregs and a set of T effectors was created, we found that C2-specific activated Tregs showed significant contactless suppression only when T effectors were also present. In addition, and confirming previous studies with polyclonal Tregs, suppression by FVIII-specific engineered Tregs could be overcome by increasing the dose of IL-2 in co-culture media. This suggests that Tregs act, in part, by usurping IL-2 needed by T effectors to proliferate. Surprisingly, neutralization of CTLA-4 did not interfere with FVIII C2-specific suppression of engineered Tregs in contrast to the reversal seen with anti-CD3e-driven non-specific immunosuppression. Our data strongly suggest that suppressive function of FVIII-specific engineered Tregs is not restricted to cell-to-cell contact. Rather cross-talk of engineered Tregs and T effectors potentially generate a contactless suppressive mechanism to suppress other FVIII-specific multiple effector cells in the local milieu for effective immune tolerance. Understanding the mechanism of contactless suppression mechanism should provide critical clues to develop more effective engineered Tregs as a therapeutic tool in hemophilia A. (Supported by NIH grants HL061883 and HL126727) Disclosures Kim: Henry Jackson Foundation: Other: patent filed. Zhang:Henry Jackson Foundation: Other: patent filed. Scott:Henry Jackson Foundation: Other: patent filed.

scholarly journals Role of the NF-κB Family Member RelB in Regulation of Foxp3+ Regulatory T Cells In Vivo

2018 ◽  
Vol 200 (4) ◽  
pp. 1325-1334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junhui Li ◽  
Shuqiu Chen ◽  
Wenhao Chen ◽  
Qifa Ye ◽  
Yaling Dou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
Regulatory T Cells ◽  
Family Member
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