| First Author | Schramm C | Year | 2004 |
| Journal | Int Immunol | Volume | 16 |
| Issue | 9 | Pages | 1241-9 |
| PubMed ID | 15249539 | Mgi Jnum | J:91963 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3051201 | Doi | 10.1093/intimm/dxh126 |
| Citation | Schramm C, et al. (2004) TGF{beta} regulates the CD4+CD25+ T-cell pool and the expression of Foxp3 in vivo. Int Immunol 16(9):1241-1249 |
| abstractText | Factors influencing the development of CD4+CD25+ T-cells in vivo are poorly understood. In order to investigate the contribution of TGFbeta1 to the development and function of CD4+CD25+ T-cells, we generated a gain of function mutation resulting in the overexpression of an active form of TGFbeta1 in T-cells under control of the human CD2 promoter. In peripheral lymphoid organs and in the thymus, the frequency of CD4+CD25+ T-cells was increased in transgenic mice. This appeared to be due to an autocrine effect of TGFbeta on T-cells, since concomitant impairment of TGFbeta-signaling in double transgenic mice resulted in a phenotype similar to wild type. In contrast, in single transgenic mice with impaired TGFbeta-signaling in T-cells, CD4+CD25+ T-cell numbers were reduced in peripheral lymphoid organs but not in the thymus. In addition, TGFbeta was found to regulate the expression of Foxp3 in vivo, a transcription factor essential for the generation and function of regulatory T-cells. In CD4+CD25+ T-cells, TGFbeta1 increased the expression of Foxp3, whereas a decreased expression was seen in CD4+CD25+ T-cells with impaired TGFbeta-signaling. TGFbeta1 induced the expression of IL-10 in transgenic T-cells, but the increased in vitro suppressive capacity observed in transgenic CD4+CD25+ T-cells was due to the secretion of TGFbeta and not IL-10. Therefore, our study provides in vivo evidence for a role of TGFbeta in the homeostasis of CD4+CD25+ T-cells. |
