Immunology Help with an article

[rubal]

http://users.path.ox.ac.uk/~seminars/waldmannlibrary/Paper%2017.pdf

 

 

Control of Regulatory T Cell

Development by the

Transcription Factor Foxp3

 

Can we go over the summary and a brief discussion into this article please. Would really appreciate it. Thank you!

[jimmydasaint]

Regulatory T cells engage in the maintenance of immunological self-tolerance by actively suppressing self-reactive lymphocytes. Little is known, however,about the molecular mechanism of their development. Here we show that Foxp3, which encodes a transcription factor that is genetically defective in an autoimmune and inammatory syndrome in humans and mice, is specically expressed in naturally arising CD4 regulatory T cells. Furthermore, retroviral gene transfer of Foxp3 converts naıve T cells toward a regulatory T cell phenotype similar to that of naturally occurring CD4 regulatory T cells. Thus, Foxp3 is a key regulatory gene for the development of regulatory T cells.

Link

 

 

The immune system has T cells which 'takes out' lymphocytes that would fight the body itself. The T cells are called regulatory T cells. We have found a gene, called Foxp3 which controls how the regulatory T cell develops into a CD4 strain from naive T cells. In humans and mice where this gene is 'knocked out' or faulty, the body's lymphocytes fight against the body itself causing inflammation, or swelling (like what happens in arthritis when the joints swell up). The Foxp3 gene seems to be a transcription factor and helps DNA inside the regulator T cells to effectively become RNA.

 

This makes sense to me. What more would you like to discuss?