Premium
Agonistic Anti‐4‐1BB Antibody Promotes the Expansion of Natural Regulatory T Cells While Maintaining Foxp3 Expression
Author(s) -
Zhang P.,
Gao F.,
Wang Q.,
Wang X.,
Zhu F.,
Ma C.,
Sun W.,
Zhang L.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.934
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1365-3083
pISSN - 0300-9475
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3083.2007.01994.x
Subject(s) - foxp3 , il 2 receptor , cd137 , stimulation , co stimulation , microbiology and biotechnology , cd8 , biology , immunology , t cell , immune system , endocrinology , cd28
The engagement of the 4‐1BB (CD137) co‐stimulatory pathway promotes the activation and proliferation of conventional CD4 + T and CD8 + T cells, but the role of 4‐1BB co‐stimulation in CD4 + CD25 + regulatory T cells (Treg) is less clear. In particular, whether 4‐1BB stimulation affects the expression of Foxp3, a master gene for Treg, is unknown. This study demonstrates that co‐stimulation of 4‐1BB engaged by an agonistic antibody promotes the proliferation of Treg in a dependent manner of low‐concentration interleukin‐2 in vitro. The 4‐1BB‐expanded Treg maintain Foxp3 expression and their ability to suppress conventional CD4 + T cells and their feature to produce no interleukin‐2. However, the 4‐1BB‐expanded Treg produce increased levels of interferon‐γ, whose significance is unknown. Thus, 4‐1BB co‐stimulation plays a role in the expansion of functional CD4 + CD25 + Treg cells without adversely affecting their suppressive activity.