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CTLA-4 and tolerance

The biochemical point of view

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Abstract

Potentially autoreactive T cells that escape negative selection in the thymus must be strictly controlled in the periphery to avoid autoimmune disease. The mostrobust regulatory process controlling autoreactivity is mediated by the CTLA-4-B7 pathway. The critical homeostasis mediated by CTLA-4 was proven using monoclonal antibodies and genetically disrupted CTLA-4 knockout mice that develop polyclonal lymphocyte activation and proliferation leading to massively enlarged lymph nodes and spleen and fatal multiorgan lymphocytic infiltrates. CTLA-4 ligation following T-cell activation down regulate scytokine production and cell-cycle progression, however, the proximal biochemical basis for robust T-cell regulation remains unclear. In this review, we summarize studies supporting a dynamic role for CTLA-4 at the immunological synapse leading to direct attenuation of early cell signals. A model is proposed based on these observations, which proposes that CTLA-4 may, in fact, function under some circumstances in aligand-independent manner. *** DIRECT SUPPORT *** A05Q2022 00011

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  1. Jeffrey A. Bluestone

    Present address: Diabetes Center, University of California at San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Avenue, Box 0540, 94143-0540, San Francisco, CA

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  1. Diabetes Center, University of California at San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Avenue, Box 0540, 94143-0540, San Francisco, CA

    Shunsuke Chikuma

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Chikuma, S., Bluestone, J.A. CTLA-4 and tolerance. Immunol Res 28, 241–253 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1385/IR:28:3:241

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