A rheostatic mechanism for T-cell inhibition based on elevation of activation thresholds. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • The activation of discrete T-cell responses depends on the triggering of individualized threshold numbers of T-cell receptors (TCRs). The results of this study indicate that the lipocalin placental protein 14 (PP14), a T-cell inhibitor produced by cells of the reproductive and hematopoietic systems, mediates its anti-inflammatory activity by elevating the T-cell activation threshold, thereby rendering T cells less sensitive to stimulation. Significantly, the data demonstrate hierarchical sensitivity of selected cytokine responses to PP14-mediated inhibition, with the hierarchy reflecting their respective activation thresholds. These findings suggest a novel paradigm for immunoinhibition wherein negative regulators can finely tune, rather than inactivate, T-cell responses, and thereby skew the cytokine output of immunologic responses.

publication date

  • December 15, 2001

Research

keywords

  • Glycoproteins
  • Immunosuppressive Agents
  • Lymphocyte Activation
  • Pregnancy Proteins
  • Rheology
  • T-Lymphocytes

Identity

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 0035895064

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1182/blood.v98.13.3727

PubMed ID

  • 11739178

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 98

issue

  • 13