title: IL-2 and autoimmune disease.
abstract: A decade after the first description of IL-2-deficient mice, the redundancy of IL-2 as a T cell growth factor is well accepted and the focus of research has shifted to the unexpected multiorgan autoimmunity and inflammation observed in mice lacking components of the IL-2/IL-2R system. So far, a set of defects at the levels of repertoire selection, the generation of suppressive regulatory T cells, T cell homing and clonal contraction via activation induced cell death (AICD) have been documented. We propose that these individual defects jointly contribute to the severe disturbance of T cell homeostasis and self-tolerance underlying the immunopathology of the IL-2 deficiency syndrome.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Virology and Immunobiology, University of Würzburg, Versbacher Street 7, Würzburg D 97078, Germany. schimpl@vim.uni-wuerzburg.de
authors.forename: Anneliese
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schimpl
authors.forename: Ingolf
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Berberich
authors.forename: Burkhardt
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kneitz
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Krämer
authors.forename: Brigitte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Santner-Nanan
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hünig
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002465:Cell Movement; D017637:Clonal Deletion; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000276:immunology; D006706:Homeostasis; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance / Q000502:physiology; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000172:deficiency / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2 / Q000172:deficiency / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D013577:Syndrome; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D019014:fas Receptor / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D007376:Interleukin-2; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2; D019014:fas Receptor