B6Idd3). Although NOD mice exhibited a progressive decline in the frequency of CD62LhiFoxP3+Tregs due to an increase in Epigenetics inhibitor CD62LloFoxP3+Tregs, CD62LhiFoxP3+Tregs were maintained in the pancreatic lymph nodes and islets of NOD.B6Idd3 mice. Notably, the frequency of proliferating CD62LhiFoxP3+Tregs was elevated in the islets of NOD.B6Idd3 versus NOD mice. Increasing levels of IL-2 in

vivo also resulted in larger numbers of CD62LhiFoxP3+Tregs in NOD mice. These results demonstrate that IL-2 influences the suppressor activity of the FoxP3+Tregs pool by regulating the balance between CD62Llo and CD62Lhi FoxP3+Tregs. In NOD mice, reduced IL-2 expression leads to an increase in nonsuppressive CD62LloFoxP3+Tregs, which in turn correlates with a pool of CD62LhiFoxP3+Tregs with limited proliferation. The hallmark of type 1 diabetes (T1D) is the T-cell-mediated destruction of the insulin-producing β cells in the pancreatic islets 1–3. Based on studies in humans and the NOD mouse, a spontaneous model of T1D, the breakdown of β-cell-specific tolerance is in part due to defective peripheral immunoregulation within the T-cell compartment. Conventional selleck chemicals T cells in NOD mice for instance, exhibit

reduced sensitivity to the suppressive effects of immunoregulatory T cells (Tregs) 4, 5. The loss of function and/or frequency of Tregs has also been implicated in the differentiation and expansion of pathogenic type 1 effector T cells specific for β cells 5–7. Several subsets of Tregs with distinct phenotypes and effector functions have been identified 8 including: (i) type 2 T effectors which predominantly secrete IL-4, (ii) Th3 cells, which primarily secrete IL-4 and TGF-β 9, (iii) IL-10-secreting Tregs 10, and (iv) natural and adaptive CD4+CD25+ T cells which express the transcription factor Forkhead Urocanase box P3 (FoxP3-expressing regulatory T cells (FoxP3+Tregs)) 11. FoxP3+Tregs are considered to be the most potent subset of Tregs, and are characterized by a suppressor function

mediated by cell–cell contact-dependent and -independent mechanisms 12. Humans and mice lacking functional FoxP3 protein develop systemic T-cell-mediated autoimmunity 13–15. FoxP3+Tregs suppress T cells through constitutive expression of CTLA-4 and the glucocorticoid-induced TNF receptor (GITR) which block co-stimulatory signals needed for T-cell activation 16. Additionally, FoxP3+Tregs elicit suppression through a bystander effect via TGF-β 12, 17, which modulates the function of APC and inhibits production of IFN-γ and TNF-α by type 1 T effectors 18. The phenotype of FoxP3+Tregs can be further defined based on CD62L expression. For instance, the in vitro and/or in vivo suppressor function of CD62LhiFoxP3+Tregs is superior compared with CD62LloFoxP3+Tregs 7, 19, 20.