title: Foxo: in command of T lymphocyte homeostasis and tolerance.
abstract: The forkhead box O (Foxo) family of transcription factors consists of the mammalian orthologs of the Caenorhabditis elegans longevity protein Daf-16, and has an evolutionarily conserved function in the regulation of nutrient sensing and stress responses. Recent studies have shown that Foxo proteins control expression of immune system-specific genes such as Il7ra in naïve T cells and Foxp3 in regulatory T cells, which are crucial regulators of T cell homeostasis and tolerance. These findings reveal that the ancient Foxo pathway has been co-opted to regulate highly specialized T cell activities. The Foxo pathway probably enables a diverse and self-tolerant population of T cells in the steady state, which is an important prerequisite for the establishment of a functional adaptive immune system.
authors.affiliation: Immunology Program, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Avenue, New York, NY 10065, USA.
authors.forename: Weiming
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ouyang
authors.forename: Ming O
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006706:Homeostasis; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors