Regulatory T cell adjustment of quorum growth thresholds and the control of local immune responses

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2006

Authors

Burroughs, NJ (Author) Other; Bruno M P M Oliveira (Author) FCNAUP; Alberto A. Pinto (Author) FCUP

Journal

Title: Journal of Theoretical Biology

Vol. 241 No. 1

Pages: 134-141

ISSN: 0022-5193

Publisher: Elsevier

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 49 Citations

ISI Web of Science

Scopus - 49 Citations

Pubmed / Medline

Scientific classification

FOS: Natural sciences > Mathematics

CORDIS: Physical sciences > Mathematics > Applied mathematics

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-004-JMQ

DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2005.11.010

Abstract (EN): The consequences of regulatory T cell (Treg) inhibition of interleukine 2 secretion is examined by mathematical modelling. We demonstrate that cytokine dependent growth exhibits a quorum T cell population threshold that determines if immune responses develop on activation. Secretion inhibition manipulates the growth dynamics and effectively increases the quorum threshold, i.e. to develop immune responses a higher number of T cells need to be activated. Thus Treg induced secretion inhibition can provide a mechanism for tissue specific regulation of the balance between suppression (control) and immune responses, a balance that can be varied at the local tissue level through the regulation of the local active Treg population size. However, nonspecific inhibition is prone to escape of initially controlled autoimmune T cells through cross reactivity to pathogens and bystander proliferation on unrelated immune responses.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 8