title: In vivo dynamics of antigen-specific regulatory T cells not predicted from behavior in vitro.
abstract: Adoptive transfer of antigen-specific CD25+CD4+ regulatory T cells was used to analyze the stability of their phenotype, their behavior after immunization, and their mode of suppressing cotransferred naive T cells in vivo. We found that regulatory T cells maintained their phenotype in the absence of antigen, were not anergic in vivo, and proliferated as extensively as naive CD4+ T cells after immunization without losing their suppressive function in vivo and in vitro. In vivo, the expansion of cotransferred naive T cells was suppressed relatively late in the response such that regulatory T cells expressing mostly IL-10 but not IL-2 or IFN-gamma represented the dominant subset of cells. Our results reveal properties of regulatory T cells that were not predicted from in vitro studies.
authors.affiliation: Harvard Medical School, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 44 Binney Street, Smith 736, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Ludger
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.forename: Khashayarsha
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Khazaie
authors.forename: Harald
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: von Boehmer
mesh_terms: D019264:Adoptive Transfer; D000818:Animals; D000941:Antigens / Q000008:administration & dosage; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D006388:Hemagglutinins / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D007114:Immunization; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2 / Q000378:metabolism; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000941:Antigens; D006388:Hemagglutinins; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2