Abstract
It is not unusual for antigens and potentially responsive T cells to co-exist in the same organism while these T cells remain silent and do not mount life-threatening immune responses. A rich array of mechanisms has been proposed to explain these observations. T cell silencing is controlled in multiple levels. Initially, dendritic cells and regulatory T cells appear to play critical roles. In addition, T cell immunity is tightly regulated by a molecular network of cytokines and cell receptor interactions by the opposed surfaces of antigen-presenting cells and T cells. Recognition of a specific antigen is therefore shaped and tuned by co-stimulatory and co-inhibitory receptor-ligand pairs. At last, immunologists are beginning to exploit the rules governing these assorted sounds of T cell silence.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 135-147 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | Immunologic Research |
Volume | 33 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Nov 2005 |
Keywords
- Anergy
- Costimulation
- Immunological ignorance
- Immunotherapy
- T cell
- Tolerance
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Immunology