CTLA-4 is not required for induction of CD8(+) T cell anergy in vivo.
Recent studies of T cell anergy induction have produced conflicting conclusions as to the role of the negative regulatory receptor, CTLA-4. Several in vivo models of tolerance have implicated the interaction of CTLA-4 and its ligands, B7.1 and B7.2, as an essential step in induction of anergy, while results from a number of other systems have indicated that signals from the TCR/CD3 complex alone are sufficient to induce T cell unresponsiveness. One explanation for this disparity is that the requirements for anergy induction depend closely on the details of the system: in vivo vs in vitro, route of stimulus administration, naive vs memory cells, CD4(+) vs CD8(+) cells, etc. To test this possibility, we established an in vivo anergy model using mice transgenic for the 2C TCR on a recombination-activating gene-2-deficient background, that either express or lack the CTLA-4 molecule. This system provides us with a very homogeneous pool of naive Ag-specific CD8(+) T cells, allowing us to control some of the conditions mentioned above. We found that T cells from CTLA-4-deficient mice were anergized by injections of soluble antigenic peptide as efficiently as were CTLA-4-expressing cells. These results indicate that CTLA-4 is not universally required for in vivo T cell anergy induction and may point to distinctions between regulation of peripheral tolerance in CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells.
Frauwirth
K A
KA
Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute and Department of Cancer Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Alegre
M L
ML
Thompson
C B
CB
D000069594:Abatacept; D000818:Animals; D015703:Antigens, CD; D000943:Antigens, Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D060908:CTLA-4 Antigen; D017635:Clonal Anergy; D018796:Immunoconjugates; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000502:physiology
D015703:Antigens, CD; D000943:Antigens, Differentiation; D060908:CTLA-4 Antigen; C556707:Ctla4 protein, mouse; D018796:Immunoconjugates; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell; D000069594:Abatacept