title: CD4+CD25+ immunoregulatory T cells may not be involved in controlling autoimmune arthritis.
abstract: Accumulating evidence suggests that regulatory T cells play a crucial role in preventing autoimmunity. Recently, a naturally occurring CD4+CD25+ T-cell subset that is anergic and also suppressive has been shown to suppress autoimmunity in several animal models. We used proteoglycan-induced arthritis (PGIA) as a study model to investigate the role of the CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells in autoimmune arthritis. There was no significant change in the percentage of CD4+CD25+ T cells during the immunization period when proteoglycan- or ovalbumin-immunized BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice were compared. An adoptive transfer study showed that the CD4+CD25+ T cells did not protect severe combined immunodeficient mice from arthritis when they were cotransferred with splenocytes from arthritic animals. Similarly, depletion of the CD4+CD25+ T cells did not enhance the onset of the disease or disease severity in severe combined immunodeficient mice. Moreover, CD28-deficient mice, which have very few CD4+CD25+ T cells, were highly resistant to PGIA. These findings indicate that the CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells may not play a critical role in controlling PGIA.
authors.affiliation: Section of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Rush University at Rush-Presbyterian-St, Luke's Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
authors.forename: Tamas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bardos
authors.forename: Matyas
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Czipri
authors.forename: Csaba
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vermes
authors.forename: Alison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Finnegan
authors.forename: Katalin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mikecz
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001169:Arthritis, Experimental / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000276:immunology*; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000276:immunology*; D018106:CD28 Antigens / Q000235:genetics; D015704:CD4 Antigens / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D016513:Mice, SCID; D011509:Proteoglycans; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2 / Q000032:analysis*; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000145:classification / Q000276:immunology* / Q000637:transplantation
chemical_list: D018106:CD28 Antigens; D015704:CD4 Antigens; D011509:Proteoglycans; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2