Regulatory T Cells in Autoimmunity and Cancer: A Duplicitous Lifestyle

Regulatory T (Treg) cells, possess a strategic role in the maintenance of immune homeostasis, and their function has been closely linked to development of diverse pathologies including autoimmunity and cancer. Comprehensive studies in various disease contexts revealed an increased plasticity as a ch...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Frontiers in immunology 2021-09, Vol.12, p.731947-731947
Main Authors: Hatzioannou, Aikaterini, Boumpas, Athina, Papadopoulou, Miranta, Papafragkos, Iosif, Varveri, Athina, Alissafi, Themis, Verginis, Panayotis
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
autoimmune disease
Autoimmune Diseases - genetics
Autoimmune Diseases - immunology
Autoimmune Diseases - metabolism
Autoimmunity
cancer
Cell Lineage
Cell Plasticity
Cytokines - metabolism
Forkhead Transcription Factors - genetics
Forkhead Transcription Factors - metabolism
Humans
Immunology
Immunotherapy
Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating - immunology
Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating - metabolism
Neoplasms - genetics
Neoplasms - immunology
Neoplasms - metabolism
Neoplasms - therapy
Phenotype
regulatory T cell
Signal Transduction
T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory - immunology
T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory - metabolism
tolerance
Tumor Escape
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Summary:Regulatory T (Treg) cells, possess a strategic role in the maintenance of immune homeostasis, and their function has been closely linked to development of diverse pathologies including autoimmunity and cancer. Comprehensive studies in various disease contexts revealed an increased plasticity as a characteristic of Treg cells. Although Treg cell plasticity comes in various flavors, the major categories enclose the loss of Foxp3 expression, which is the master regulator of Treg cell lineage, giving rise to "ex-Treg" cells and the "fragile" Treg cells in which expression is retained but accompanied by the engagement of an inflammatory program and attenuation of the suppressive activity. Treg cell plasticity possess a tremendous therapeutic potential either by inducing Treg cell de-stabilization to promote anti-tumor immunity, or re-enforcing Treg cell stability to attenuate chronic inflammation. Herein, we review the literature on the Treg cell plasticity with lessons learned in autoimmunity and cancer and discuss challenges and open questions with potential therapeutic implications.
ISSN:1664-3224
1664-3224
DOI:10.3389/fimmu.2021.731947