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Regulation of T cell function in mucosal tolerance
Author(s) -
Hoyne Gerard F,
Lamb Jonathan R
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
immunology and cell biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.999
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1440-1711
pISSN - 0818-9641
DOI - 10.1038/icb.1997.29
Subject(s) - antigen , immune system , immunology , immune tolerance , t cell , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , population , in vivo , antigen presenting cell , cell , medicine , genetics , environmental health
Administering antigens through mucosal surfaces leads to the induction of antigen‐specific T cell unresponsiveness. This property of the mucosal immune system is now beginning to be exploited in the design of immunotherapeutic strategies aimed at targeting disease‐inducing T cell populations. The induction of high dose mucosal tolerance leads to the induction of T cell anergy. Recent studies have suggested that the induction of anergy in vivo may not neccessarily be due to a lack of costimulation by APC. Instead, recognition of mucosal antigen leads to transient T cell activation which eventually gives rise to a population of regulatory T cells whose function is to modulate, rather than promote antigen‐specific immune responses. These regulatory T cells mediate linked suppression in vivo thus enabling T cell responses directed to a multideterminant protein to be effectively controlled. The manner in which T cell responses to mucosally delivered antigens are regulated are examined herein.