| First Author | Albacker LA | Year | 2010 |
| Journal | J Immunol | Volume | 185 |
| Issue | 11 | Pages | 6839-49 |
| PubMed ID | 21037090 | Mgi Jnum | J:166143 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:4839833 | Doi | 10.4049/jimmunol.1001360 |
| Citation | Albacker LA, et al. (2010) TIM-4, a Receptor for Phosphatidylserine, Controls Adaptive Immunity by Regulating the Removal of Antigen-Specific T Cells. J Immunol 185(11):6839-49 |
| abstractText | Adaptive immunity is characterized by the expansion of an Ag-specific T cell population following Ag exposure. The precise mechanisms, however, that control the expansion and subsequent contraction in the number of Ag-specific T cells are not fully understood. We show that T cell/transmembrane, Ig, and mucin (TIM)-4, a receptor for phosphatidylserine, a marker of apoptotic cells, regulates adaptive immunity in part by mediating the removal of Ag-specific T cells during the contraction phase of the response. During Ag immunization or during infection with influenza A virus, blockade of TIM-4 on APCs increased the expansion of Ag-specific T cells, resulting in an increase in secondary immune responses. Conversely, overexpression of TIM-4 on APCs in transgenic mice reduced the number of Ag-specific T cells that remained after immunization, resulting in reduced secondary T cell responses. There was no change in the total number of cell divisions that T cells completed, no change in the per cell proliferative capacity of the remaining Ag-specific T cells, and no increase in the development of Ag-specific regulatory T cells in TIM-4 transgenic mice. Thus, TIM-4-expressing cells regulate adaptive immunity by mediating the removal of phosphatidylserine-expressing apoptotic, Ag-specific T cells, thereby controlling the number of Ag-specific T cells that remain after the clearance of Ag or infection. |
