McGuirk Peter, Mills Kingston H G
Immune Regulation Research Group, Department of Biochemistry, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland.
Trends Immunol. 2002 Sep;23(9):450-5. doi: 10.1016/s1471-4906(02)02288-3.
Current dogma suggests that immunity to infection is controlled by distinct type 1 (Th1) and type 2 (Th2) subpopulations of T cells discriminated on the basis of cytokine secretion and function. However, a further subtype of T cells, with immunosuppressive function and cytokine profiles distinct from either Th1 or Th2 T cells, termed regulatory T (Tr) cells has been described. Although considered to have a role in the maintenance of self-tolerance, recent studies suggest that Tr cells can be induced against bacterial, viral and parasite antigens in vivo and might prevent infection-induced immunopathology or prolong pathogen persistence by suppressing protective Th1 responses. These observations have significant implications for our understanding of the role of T cells in immunity to infectious diseases and for the development of new therapies for immune-mediated disorders.
当前的理论认为，对感染的免疫由T细胞的不同1型（Th1）和2型（Th2）亚群控制，这两类亚群是根据细胞因子分泌和功能来区分的。然而，已描述了T细胞的另一种亚型，即调节性T（Tr）细胞，其具有免疫抑制功能，且细胞因子谱不同于Th1或Th2 T细胞。尽管认为Tr细胞在维持自身耐受性方面发挥作用，但最近的研究表明，Tr细胞可在体内被诱导以针对细菌、病毒和寄生虫抗原产生反应，并且可能通过抑制保护性Th1反应来预防感染诱导的免疫病理或延长病原体的持续存在。这些观察结果对于我们理解T细胞在传染病免疫中的作用以及免疫介导疾病新疗法的开发具有重要意义。
