The many sounds of T lymphocyte silence.
It is not unusual for antigens and potentially responsive T cells to co-exist in the same organism while these T cells remain silent and do not mount life-threatening immune responses. A rich array of mechanisms has been proposed to explain these observations. T cell silencing is controlled in multiple levels. Initially, dendritic cells and regulatory T cells appear to play critical roles. In addition, T cell immunity is tightly regulated by a molecular network of cytokines and cell receptor interactions by the opposed surfaces of antigen-presenting cells and T cells. Recognition of a specific antigen is therefore shaped and tuned by co-stimulatory and co-inhibitory receptor-ligand pairs. At last, immunologists are beginning to exploit the rules governing these assorted sounds of T cell silence.
Melero
Ignacio
I
Department of Medicine, CIMA and Clinica Universitaria, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain. imelero@unav.es
Arina
Ainhoa
A
Chen
Lieping
L
D000818:Animals; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance / Q000276:immunology*; D018448:Models, Immunological; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*