Physiologic regulation of central and peripheral T cell tolerance: lessons for therapeutic applications.
Immunologic tolerance is a state of unresponsiveness that is specific for a particular antigen. The immune system has an extraordinary potential for making T cell and B cell that recognize and neutralize any chemical entity and microbe entering the body. Certainly, some of these T cells and B cells recognize self-components; therefore, cellular mechanisms have evolved to control the activity of these self-reactive cells and achieve immunological self-tolerance. The most important in vivo biological significance of mechanisms regulating self-tolerance is to prevent the immune system from mounting an attack against the host's own tissues resulting in autoimmunity. This review summarizes recent developments in our understanding of T-helper cell tolerance and discusses how the new findings can be exploited to prevent and treat autoimmune diseases, allergy, cancer, and chronic infection, or establish donor-specific transplantation tolerance.
Li
Lequn
L
Transplantation Biology Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Boussiotis
Vassiliki A
VA
D019264:Adoptive Transfer; D000818:Animals; D015551:Autoimmunity; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D017635:Clonal Anergy; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000276:immunology; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000276:immunology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D006377:T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer / Q000276:immunology; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology; D023001:Transplantation Tolerance
D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell