Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Division of labor among thymus-derived Foxp3+ regulatory T cells

This week Nature Immunology published study that showed another level of "division of labor" among regulatory Foxp3+ T cells (Tregs). The authors revealed presence of two types of thymic Tregs defined by expression of three receptors, GITR, PD-1 and CD25 (GITRhiPD-1hiCD25hi and GITRloPD-1loCD25lo Tregs cells) that displayed non-overlapping functionality.

Specifically, only GITRloPD-1loCD25lo Tregs cells prevented colitis development in adoptive transfer experiment by converting responding naive T cells into induced Tregs.



On the other hand, only GITRhiPD-1hiCD25hi Tregs cells prevented uncontrolled proliferation of endogenous T cells when transferred into Treg-depleted host.




In summary, this study revealed that even among thymus-derived natural Tregs there is a division of labor. It is possible that difference between these two types of thymic Tregs is also related to their differential migration pattern as it was suggested by one recent study on KLF2.

David Usharauli

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