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Xin Chen, Joost J Oppenheim, O M Zack Howard, BALB/c mice have more CD4+CD25+ T regulatory cells and show greater susceptibility to suppression of their CD4+CD25− responder T cells than C57BL/6 mice, Journal of Leukocyte Biology, Volume 78, Issue 1, Jul 2005, Pages 114–121, https://doi.org/10.1189/jlb.0604341
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Abstract
Increasing evidence indicates that CD4+CD25+ T regulatory (Treg) cells control a wide spectrum of immune responses. The initial identification of CD4+CD25+ Treg cell as a “professional suppressor” was based on observations made in BALB/c mice. This mouse strain is well known to preferentially develop T helper cell type 2 responses, to be more susceptible to intracellular parasite infection, to have a higher tumor incidence, and to be more resistant to the induction of autoimmune diseases, as compared with C57BL/6 (B6) mice. We therefore decided to compare Treg cell function of B6 and BALB/c mice. We observed that the frequency of CD4+CD25+ T cells in the thymus and peripheral lymphoid organs of BALB/c mice was higher than in B6 mice. CD4+CD25+ Treg cells from both mouse strains shared similar phenotypic properties, including expression of characteristic immunological markers and hyporesponsiveness to T cell receptor cross-linking and in their capacity to suppress proliferation of BALB/c CD4+CD25− T responder (Tres) cells. However, CD4+CD25− Tres cells from B6 mice were notably less susceptible to suppression by CD4+CD25+ Treg cells from either mouse strain. Our data suggest that the number and the level of suppression of CD4+CD25+ Treg cells for CD4+CD25− Tres cells may be dictated by genetic background. Our data also suggest that differences in the CD4+CD25+ Treg cell number and the susceptibility of CD4+CD25− Tres cells may, at least in part, account for the differences in immune response between B6 and BALB/c strains of mice.
