TY - JOUR
T1 - Becoming self-aware
T2 - The thymic education of regulatory T cells
AU - Lio, Chan Wang J.
AU - Hsieh, Chyi Song
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to thank Jhoanne Bautista for critical review of the manuscript. Supported by the Arthritis Foundation, Burroughs Wellcome Fund and the US National Institutes of Health (C.-S.H.) and the Tertiary Education Services Office, Macau S.A.R. (C.-W.J.L.).
PY - 2011/4
Y1 - 2011/4
N2 - The generation of Foxp3+ regulatory T (Treg) cells in the thymus is essential for immune homeostasis. In the past several years, substantial progress has been made in understanding the mechanisms by which a minor portion of developing thymocytes are selected to become Treg cells. Although previously controversial, recent data support the importance of TCR specificity as a primary determinant for selecting self-reactive thymocytes to become Treg cells in a multi-step process involving cytokines, co-stimulatory molecules, and a variety of antigen-presenting cells. Importantly, the antigenic niche for Treg cell development appears to be typically quite small, implying the recognition of tissue-specific, rather than ubiquitous, self-antigens. Finally, it appears that an NF-κB transcription factor, c-Rel, may be the link between TCR recognition and the induction of Foxp3 expression, which is required for the function and stability of the natural Treg cell population.
AB - The generation of Foxp3+ regulatory T (Treg) cells in the thymus is essential for immune homeostasis. In the past several years, substantial progress has been made in understanding the mechanisms by which a minor portion of developing thymocytes are selected to become Treg cells. Although previously controversial, recent data support the importance of TCR specificity as a primary determinant for selecting self-reactive thymocytes to become Treg cells in a multi-step process involving cytokines, co-stimulatory molecules, and a variety of antigen-presenting cells. Importantly, the antigenic niche for Treg cell development appears to be typically quite small, implying the recognition of tissue-specific, rather than ubiquitous, self-antigens. Finally, it appears that an NF-κB transcription factor, c-Rel, may be the link between TCR recognition and the induction of Foxp3 expression, which is required for the function and stability of the natural Treg cell population.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79953070839&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.coi.2010.11.010
DO - 10.1016/j.coi.2010.11.010
M3 - Review article
C2 - 21146972
AN - SCOPUS:79953070839
SN - 0952-7915
VL - 23
SP - 213
EP - 219
JO - Current Opinion in Immunology
JF - Current Opinion in Immunology
IS - 2
ER -