Interferon gamma: friend or foe?
Interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) can elicit an inflammatory TH1-driven immune response but has also been found to be necessary for long-term allograft survival induced by costimulation blockade. Recently, we have found that regulatory T cells rapidly and transiently produce IFN-gamma creating a microenvironment that can influence the function of antigen presenting cells (APCs), T-cell proliferation and activation as well as T-cell effector mechanisms, thereby controlling immune responses locally. Moreover, addition of IFN-gamma to cocultures of T cells and APCs can drive the generation of T cells with regulatory activity. Thus, the influence of IFN-gamma on the immune response to a transplant is likely to be context dependent.
Wood
Kathryn J
KJ
Transplantation Research Immunology Group, Nuffield Department of Surgery, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, United Kingdom. kathryn.wood@nds.ox.ac.uk
Feng
Gang
G
Wei
Bin
B
Sawitzki
Birgit
B
Bushell
Andrew R
AR
D000818:Animals; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D018448:Models, Immunological
D007371:Interferon-gamma