Therapeutic Potential of Hyporesponsive CD4+ T Cells in Autoimmunity

The interaction between dendritic cells (DCs) and T cells is crucial on immunity or tolerance induction. In an immature or semi-mature state, DCs induce tolerance through T-cell deletion, generation of regulatory T cells, and/or induction of T-cell anergy. Anergy is defined as an unresponsive state that retains T cells in an "off" mode under conditions in which immune activation is undesirable. This mechanism is crucial for the control of T-cell responses against self-antigens, thereby preventing autoimmunity. Tolerogenic DCs (tDCs), generated in vitro from peripheral blood monocytes of healthy donors or patients with autoimmune pathologies, were shown to modulate immune responses by inducing T-cell hyporesponsiveness. Animal models of autoimmune diseases confirmed the impact of T-cell anergy on disease development and progression in vivo. Thus, the induction of T-cell hyporesponsiveness by tDCs has become a promising immunotherapeutic strategy for the treatment of T-cell-mediated autoimmune disorders. Here, we review recent findings in the area and discuss the potential of anergy induction for clinical purposes.