Huber Samuel, Schramm Christoph
Department of Immunobiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA.
Crit Rev Immunol. 2011;31(1):53-60. doi: 10.1615/critrevimmunol.v31.i1.50.
Regulatory T cells (Tregs) play a crucial role in the maintenance of immune homeostasis. The two best studied types of CD4(+) regulatory T cells are the Foxp3(+) Tregs and the T regulatory type 1 (Tr1) cells. CD4(+) regulatory T cells play a protective role in autoimmune disease. On the other hand, they also may have pathogenic properties in infectious diseases and carcinogenesis. Because of their potential for the therapy of various human diseases, factors responsible for expanding regulatory T cells are of interest. One of these factors, the TGFbeta family member activin A, is expressed in different inflammatory conditions, such as inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and asthma. Although activin A might have pro- and anti-inflammatory properties depending on the context of expression, this review focuses on the role of activin A for the expansion of the CD4(+) regulatory T-cell pool.
调节性T细胞（Tregs）在维持免疫稳态中发挥着关键作用。研究最为深入的两种CD4(+)调节性T细胞类型是Foxp3(+) Tregs和1型调节性T细胞（Tr1）。CD4(+)调节性T细胞在自身免疫性疾病中发挥保护作用。另一方面，它们在传染病和致癌过程中也可能具有致病特性。由于它们在治疗各种人类疾病方面的潜力，负责扩增调节性T细胞的因素备受关注。其中一个因素，即转化生长因子β（TGFbeta）家族成员激活素A，在不同的炎症性疾病中表达，如炎症性肠病、类风湿性关节炎和哮喘。尽管激活素A根据表达环境可能具有促炎和抗炎特性，但本综述重点关注激活素A在扩增CD4(+)调节性T细胞库中的作用。
