Comeback kids: CD8(+) suppressor T cells are back in the game.
Suppressing unwanted immune responses without compromising host immunity against pathogens is considered the holy grail of immunology. Lack of responsiveness to self-antigens is normally maintained by multiple mechanisms, including the suppressive activities of several T cell subsets. In this issue of the JCI, Jiang and colleagues define a CD8(+) suppressor T cell subset in humans that recapitulates a regulatory pathway previously described in mice. These investigators further show that patients with type 1 diabetes have defects in their CD8(+) suppressor T cells, thus identifying these cells as potential therapeutic targets in human disease.
Van Kaer
Luc
L
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee 37232, USA. luc.van.kaer@vanderbilt.edu
D015551:Autoimmunity; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000502:physiology; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000209:etiology* / Q000276:immunology; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000502:physiology*; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D015398:Signal Transduction; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000502:physiology; D000097625:HLA-E Antigens
D006680:HLA Antigens; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I; D000097625:HLA-E Antigens; C032907:Q surface antigens