Current Concepts in Regulatory T cell

Song, Tae Won

Abstract

During the last few years, the concept of regulatory T (Treg) cells has received general attention by the scientific community. The activity of Tregs may be critical in the immune outcome to allergen and hence the development of allergic versus nonallergic responses. Two main groups of Treg cell, such as natural Treg cells and inducible Treg cells (Tr1 cells and Th3 cells) have been defined. The search of better Treg cell markers have been continued, and Foxp3, CD25, CD127, folate receptor 4, HLA-DR and CCR 6 could be used. Recent research reveals the cellular and molecular basis of Treg development and function. In allergic diseases, such as asthma, atopic dermatitis and food allergy, many evidences those Treg cells contribute to the control of disease have been showed. This review focuses on current concepts in Treg cell including development, characteristics, cell markers, and cellular and molecular research of Treg cells and Treg cells in allergic diseases. This may be important for advancing our understanding of allergic disease and possible therapeutic applications for the treatment of disease those are associated with a dysfunction in T cell regulation.