A rheostat for immune responses: the unique properties of PD-1 and their advantages for clinical application.
PD-1, a negative coreceptor expressed on antigen-stimulated T cells and B cells, seems to serve as a 'rheostat' of the immune response. The molecular mechanisms of the functions of PD-1, in conjunction with the mild, chronic and strain-specific autoimmune phenotypes of PD-1-deficient mice, in contrast to the devastating fatal autoimmune disease of mice deficient in the immunomodulatory receptor CTLA-4, suggest that immunoregulation by PD-1 is rather antigen specific and is mainly cell intrinsic. Such unique properties make PD-1 a powerful target for immunological therapy, with highly effective clinical applications for cancer treatment.
Division of Immune Regulation, Institute for Genome Research, University of Tokushima, Tokushima, Japan.
Taku
T
Okazaki
Shunsuke
S
Chikuma
Yoshiko
Y
Iwai
Sidonia
S
Fagarasan
Tasuku
T
Honjo
D000818:Animals; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007107:Immune System / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D007108:Immune Tolerance / Q000276:immunology; D051379:Mice; D018448:Models, Immunological; D061026:Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000276:immunology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism
D061026:Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor