Induction of FOXP3 expression in naive human CD4+FOXP3− T cells by T-cell receptor stimulation is transforming growth factor-β–dependent but does not confer a regulatory phenotype

Thymic-derived natural T-regulatory cells (nTregs) are important for the induction of self-tolerance and the control of autoimmunity. Murine CD4+CD25(-)Foxp3(-) cells can be induced to express Foxp3 after T-cell receptor (TCR) activation in the presence of transforming growth factor beta (TGFbeta) and are phenotypically similar to nTregs. Some studies have suggested that TCR stimulation of human CD4+CD25(-) cells results in the induction of transient expression of FOXP3, but that the induced cells lack a regulatory phenotype. We demonstrate here that TCR stimulation alone was insufficient to induce FOXP3 expression in the absence of TGFbeta, whereas high levels of FOXP3 expression could be induced in the…

• NI
  National Institutes of Health
• NI
  National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases