Cell-surface IL-7 receptor expression facilitates the purification of FOXP3(+) regulatory T cells.
FOXP3+ regulatory T (Treg) cells have crucial roles in maintaining self-tolerance and modulating adaptive immune responses. Functional studies of Treg cells have been hampered by a lack of suitable cell-surface markers that specifically enable their purification without contamination by non-regulatory CD25+ effector T cells. Two recent studies have demonstrated that downregulation of the interleukin-7 receptor (CD127) distinguishes Treg cells from activated T cells, facilitating both Treg-cell purification and their functional characterization in human diseases. CD127 uniquely enables the purification of FOXP3+ Treg cells and, potentially, also "adaptive" regulatory T-cell subsets from the CD4+CD25- T-cell population.
Banham
Alison H
AH
LRF Lymphoma Antigens Group, Nuffield Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Headington, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK. alison.banham@ndcls.ox.ac.uk
D000818:Animals; D002469:Cell Separation; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015536:Down-Regulation; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D053645:Interleukin-2 Receptor alpha Subunit / Q000378:metabolism; D053699:Interleukin-7 Receptor alpha Subunit / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D018448:Models, Immunological; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000502:physiology*
C418974:FOXP3 protein, human; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors; D053645:Interleukin-2 Receptor alpha Subunit; D053699:Interleukin-7 Receptor alpha Subunit