Bet-specific iTreg induced by IL-10 DC exhibited an activated
phenotype after Bet-and Cor-specific restimulation
Several studies revealed an anergic phenotype of
CD4+CD25+FOXP3+natural Treg and iTreg, in particular of iTreg induced by IL-10
DC.35,38,42,44 In order to prove the allergen-specific
and cross-reactive induction of T cell anergy in our system, we have
performed restimulation experiments with autologous
mDC0, mDCBet or mDCCor,
respectively (see Supplementary Methods). Compared to control T cells
(Teff0), restimulation of TeffBet with
mDCBet led to a significantly increased and in the case
of mDCCor slightly enhanced Teff proliferation,
demonstrating the induction of both a Bet-specific and cross-reactive,
Cor-specific T cell response (Figure 2A). However, also restimulation of
iTregBet with mDCBet or
mDCCor resulted in a very pronounced and significantly
enhanced T cell proliferation, compared to Teff0.
iTregBet proliferated even stronger compared to
TeffBet, indicating that allergen-specific iTreg did not
display an anergic but activated phenotype after specific (Bet) or cross
(Cor)-specific restimulation (Figure 2A). In contrast to
iTregBet, iTreg0 exhibited a
significantly lower proliferation and remained anergic regardless of the
allergen-specific or cross-specific restimulation with
mDCBet or mDCCor (Figure 2B).