Regulatory T Cells and Clinical Application

The immune system reacts vigorously to foreign invaders such as viruses bacteria protozoa and parasites and yet shows unresponsiveness to our own proteins. Immune tolerance to self-proteins is paramount to prevent the development of autoimmune disease. In the past decade several types of T lymphocytes in the immune system have been discovered to function as regulatory cells to suppress unwanted immune responses to self-proteins leading to the protection of autoimmunity. Furthermore regulatory T cells also protect us from the development of asthma allergy and prevent organ transplantation rejection. Regulatory T Cells and Clinical Application provides a comprehensive view of all types of regulatory T cells described so far in the literature. By thoroughly reviewing the immunobiology of regulatory T cells and their implications in various forms of human diseases a new perspective of therapy using regulatory T cells as individualized medicine to treat inflammatory diseases including diabetes allergy and transplantation rejection is highlighted.About the Editor:Dr. Shuiping Jiang is a British Heart Foundation Fellow in the Department of Nephrology and Transplantation at Guy s Hospital King s College London United Kingdom.