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International Immunology Advance Access originally published online on March 15, 2007
International Immunology 2007 19(4):557-566; doi:10.1093/intimm/dxm021
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CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells are activated in vivo by recognition of self

John Andersson, Irena Stefanova, Geoffrey L. Stephens and Ethan M. Shevach

Laboratory of Immunology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Health, 10 Center Drive, MSC-1892, Bethesda, MD 20892-1892, USA

Correspondence to: E. M. Shevach; E-mail: eshevach{at}niaid.nih.gov

Naturally occurring CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells (nTR) comprise a separate lineage of T cells that are essential for maintaining immunological tolerance to self. Here we demonstrate that the level of phosphorylation of the TCR {zeta}-chain is ~1.5- to 4-fold higher in nTR as compared with CD4+CD25– T cells. The increased level of TCR {zeta}-chain phosphorylation is presumably secondary to their higher affinity for self, resulting in a stronger TCR signal as it was completely blocked by treatment with anti-MHC class II. The enhanced level of TCR {zeta}-chain phosphorylation was correlated with the capacity of nTR to develop non-specific suppressor effector function following culture with IL-2 or IL-4 in the absence of TCR stimulus. Thus, a sub-population of nTR is activated by recognition of self-peptide–MHC class II ligands in vivo, resulting in their capacity to be induced to mediate suppressor function in vitro in the absence of TCR stimulation.

Keywords: IL-2, IL-4, regulatory T cells, TCR, tolerance

Transmitting editor: J. Allison

Received 17 August 2006, accepted 29 January 2007.


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