Department of Medicine, Immunotherapy and Cancer Centers, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA 30912, USA.
J Immunol. 2011 Apr 15;186(8):4535-40. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.1002937.
Foxp3-lineage CD4 regulatory T cells (Tregs) were named for their ability to maintain self tolerance and suppress T cell immunity. However, resting Tregs from noninflamed tissues exhibit little suppressor activity, and must be stimulated to acquire such function. Conversely, under certain inflammatory conditions, Tregs may undergo rapid reprogramming to acquire helper/effector functions. In this Brief Review, we describe recent progress in elucidating physiologic processes that control the functional status of Foxp3-lineage Tregs. Emerging evidence suggests the surprising possibility that reprogrammed Tregs can be an indispensable source of helper activity in some physiologic settings, such as priming CD8(+) T cell responses. This suggests a novel paradigm in which Foxp3(+) Tregs intrinsically possess bifunctional potential, acting as a preformed pool of first-responder cells at sites of local inflammation that can either provide classical regulatory/suppressor activity, or rapidly reprogram to supply helper/effector activity, contingent on signals that manifest in local physiologic settings.
叉头框蛋白 P3 谱系 CD4 调节性 T 细胞（Tregs）因其能够维持自身耐受和抑制 T 细胞免疫的能力而得名。然而，来自非炎症组织的静止 Tregs 几乎没有抑制活性，必须经过刺激才能获得这种功能。相反，在某些炎症条件下，Tregs 可能会迅速重新编程以获得辅助/效应功能。在这篇简短的综述中，我们描述了阐明控制 Foxp3 谱系 Tregs 功能状态的生理过程的最新进展。新出现的证据表明，在某些生理情况下，如启动 CD8(+)T 细胞反应，重新编程的 Tregs 可能是辅助活性不可或缺的来源，这令人惊讶。这表明了一种新的范式，即 Foxp3(+)Tregs 本质上具有双功能潜能，作为局部炎症部位的第一反应细胞的预成型池，可以提供经典的调节/抑制活性，或根据在局部生理环境中表现出来的信号迅速重新编程以提供辅助/效应活性。
