title: DEXterity of tolerogenic APCs.
abstract: A promising therapeutic approach for inducing tolerance in autoreactive T cells is the use of APCs such as DCs and macrophages. In this issue of the European Journal of Immunology, Zheng et al. [Eur. J. Immunol. 2013. 43: 219-227] study the concept of "tolerogenic adjuvants" to induce tolerance via vaccination. These authors have previously identified dexamethasone (Dex) as an effective "tolerogenic adjuvant" and, in this study, they have identified a population of peripheral macrophages that is enriched by Dex treatment and that mediates Dex's tolerogenic effect. In addition to performing a phenotypic characterization of this population, the authors noted an increase in serum levels of IL-10 and Treg cells after Dex treatment of mice. As discussed in this Commentary, by employing Dex as a tolerogenic adjuvant in the presence of relevant peptides, we may have a means of restoring specific immune tolerance in cases of autoimmune disease and allergy.
authors: Laboratory of Molecular Immunoregulation, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD 21702-1201, USA.
authors: Katherine E R
authors: KE
authors: Stagliano
authors: Joost J
authors: JJ
authors: Oppenheim
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003907:Dexamethasone / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006968:Hypersensitivity, Delayed / Q000188:drug therapy*; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D016753:Interleukin-10 / Q000276:immunology*; D008264:Macrophages / Q000187:drug effects*; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology*; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D016753:Interleukin-10; D003907:Dexamethasone