Open AccessTargeting the immunoregulatory indoleamine 2,3 dioxygenase pathway in immunotherapy
Author(s) -
Burles A. Johnson,
Babak Baban,
Andrew L. Mellor
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
immunotherapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.127
H-Index - 48
eISSN - 1750-7448
pISSN - 1750-743X
DOI - 10.2217/imt.09.21
Subject(s) - indoleamine 2,3 dioxygenase , immunotherapy , immunology , immune system , immune tolerance , dendritic cell , medicine , inflammation , biology , cancer research , tryptophan , biochemistry , amino acid
Natural immune tolerance is a formidable barrier to successful immunotherapy to treat established cancers and chronic infections. Conversely, creating robust immune tolerance via immunotherapy is the major goal in treating autoimmune and allergic diseases, and enhancing survival of transplanted organs and tissues. In this review, we focus on a natural mechanism that creates local T-cell tolerance in many clinically relevant settings of chronic inflammation involving expression of the cytosolic enzyme indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) by specialized subsets of dendritic cells. IDO-expressing dendritic cells suppress antigen-specific T-cell responses directly, and induce bystander suppression by activating regulatory T cells. Thus, manipulating IDO is a promising strategy to treat a range of chronic inflammatory diseases.