Dendritic Cells Stimulate Production of Immune-Repressing T Cells, Rockefeller University Study

Regulatory T cells (also known as T regs) suppress some of the immune system’s more inappropriate responses, preventing it from attacking the body’s own tissues and stifling its activity once invading microbes have been fought off. But while researchers knew that these cells could be exploited for treating conditions such as allergy, autoimmune disease and transplant rejection, they didn’t know how to stimulate their production. Now, new research by Ralph Steinman, Henry G. Kunkel Professor and head of Rockefeller University's Laboratory of Cellular Physiology and Immunology, and first author Sayuri Yamazaki, a research associate in the Steinman lab, shows that dendritic cells are largely responsible for turning naïve, unspecialized T cells into T regs.