title: Tissue Tregs.
abstract: The immune system is responsible for defending an organism against the myriad of microbial invaders it constantly confronts. It has become increasingly clear that the immune system has a second major function: the maintenance of organismal homeostasis. Foxp3(+)CD4(+) regulatory T cells (Tregs) are important contributors to both of these critical activities, defense being the primary purview of Tregs circulating through lymphoid organs, and homeostasis ensured mainly by their counterparts residing in parenchymal tissues. This review focuses on so-called tissue Tregs. We first survey existing information on the phenotype, function, sustaining factors, and human equivalents of the three best-characterized tissue-Treg populations-those operating in visceral adipose tissue, skeletal muscle, and the colonic lamina propria. We then attempt to distill general principles from this body of work-as concerns the provenance, local adaptation, molecular sustenance, and targets of action of tissue Tregs, in particular.
authors.affiliation: Division of Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115; email: mpandurosicheva@fas.harvard.edu , cb@hms.harvard.edu , dm@hms.harvard.edu.|Evergrande Center for Immunologic Diseases, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115.|Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115.
authors.forename: Marisella
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Panduro
authors.affiliation: Division of Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115; email: mpandurosicheva@fas.harvard.edu , cb@hms.harvard.edu , dm@hms.harvard.edu.|Evergrande Center for Immunologic Diseases, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115.|Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115.
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Benoist
authors.affiliation: Division of Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115; email: mpandurosicheva@fas.harvard.edu , cb@hms.harvard.edu , dm@hms.harvard.edu.|Evergrande Center for Immunologic Diseases, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115.|Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115.
authors.forename: Diane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mathis
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000276:immunology*; D000818:Animals; D003106:Colon / Q000276:immunology*; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D006706:Homeostasis; D006801:Humans; D009092:Mucous Membrane / Q000276:immunology*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000276:immunology*; D009928:Organ Specificity; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: C418974:FOXP3 protein, human; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors
keywords: adipose tissue; metabolism; microbiota; mucosal immunology; skeletal muscle; tissue repair