Immune Tolerance

Concepts in tolerance induction in the lung

Dale T. Umetsu, MD, PhD
Harvard Medical School, Children’s Hospital
Boston, MA, USA

Asthma and allergy are thought to develop as a result of an over-abundance of Th2 cells and/or a relative-lack of regulatory T cells.  We have shown that asthma and allergy are regulated by a number of distinct CD4⁺ T cells that include antigen-specific Th1-like T_Regs and Th2-like T_Regs cells, as well as Natural Killer T (NKT) cells.  Both Th1-like T_Regs and Th2-like T_Regs cells arise following antigen exposure and express Foxp3, and both can potently inhibit the development of allergen-induced airway hyperreactivity (AHR), a cardinal feature of asthma.  In contrast, NKT cells appear to be antigen-nonspecific, but are able to greatly exacerbate the development of allergen-induced AHR.  The specific mechanisms and interactions that link Th2, T_Regs and NKT cells in the airways are not yet clear. 

Slide presentation

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