Low frequency of CD4(+) CD25(+) Treg in SLE patients: a heritable trait associated with CTLA4 and TGF gene variants

Background: CD4(+)CD25(+) regulatory T cells play an essential role in maintaining immune homeostasis and preventing autoimmunity. Therefore, defects in Treg development, maintenance or function have been associated with several human autoimmune diseases including Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), a systemic autoimmune disease characterized by loss of tolerance to nuclear components and significantly more frequent in females.

Keywords

REGULATORY T-CELLS SYSTEMIC-LUPUS-ERYTHEMATOSUS IMMUNOLOGICAL SELF-TOLERANCE IN-VIVO EXPANSION AUTOANTIBODY PRODUCTION MULTIPLE-SCLEROSIS

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.7/160

Citation

Barreto, M., Ferreira, R.C., Lourenco, L., Moraes-Fontes, M.F.,Santos, E., Alves, M.,Carvalho, C., Martins, B., Andreia, R., Viana, J. F., Vasconcelos, C., Mota-Vieira, L., Ferreira, C., Demengeot, J., Vicente, A.M. (2009). “Low frequency of CD4(+)CD25(+) Treg in SLE patients: a heritable trait associated with CTLA4 and TGF gene variants”. BMC Immunology. 10: 1 -14