Abstract
Clonal anergy in Ag-specific CD4+ T cells is shown in these experiments to inhibit IL-2 production and clonal expansion in vivo. We also demonstrate that the defect in IL-2 gene inducibility can be achieved in both naive and Th1-like memory T cells when repeatedly exposed to aqueous peptide Ag. Nevertheless, this induction of clonal anergy did not interfere with the capacity of naive T cells to differentiate into Th1-like effector cells, nor did it prevent such helper cells from participating in T-dependent IgG2a anti-hapten responses and delayed-type hypersensitivity reactions. Thus, clonal anergy can contribute to the development of Ag-specific immune tolerance by limiting the size of a Th cell population, but not by disrupting its effector function.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 2168-2177 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Journal of Immunology |
Volume | 161 |
Issue number | 5 |
State | Published - Sep 1 1998 |