| Themes > Science > Life Sciences > General Biology > Immunology > The Immune System & Disease > Autoimmunity > Immunoregulation |
A number of induced autoimmune diseases resolve themselves. This has revealed the potential for the immune system to return to a tolerant state by some form of regulation. The regulatory cells are CD4+ T cells and can protect naive mice in transfer studies as shown below. |
The TH1 /TH2 paradigmHow these regulatory T cells work has yet to be shown. A simple model is that the disease process requires the bias of the immune response to be either 'TH1 type' or 'TH2 type' (depending on the disease) and that anything which stimulates the opposite environment may protect. This may be the explanation for the protection of NOD mice by infection with Schistosoma (or administration of derived antigens) which establishes a strong Th2 bias. However many situations are likely to be more complex. |
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