Fol. Biol. 2006, 52, 202-204
Depletion of Treg Cells Augments the Therapeutic Effect of Cancer Vaccines
Immune responses are controlled by both positive (upregulatory) and negative (downregulatory) signals. T cells generating the upregulatory signals, T helper (TH) cells, were intensively studied in a variety of experimental systems and their crucial role for immune surveillance can be demonstrated during human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. HIV utilizes for its entry into human organisms surface receptors on TH cells. The cytopathogenic and other effects of HIV lead to the TH cell depletion, breakdown of immune responses, including breakdown of the resistance to various pathogens and some neoplasms. Therefore, the infection of the AIDS patients with pathogens that are harmless for HIV-uninfected individuals may be lethal for the patients.
Funding
The work of the author reviewed in this Editorial was supported by grants No. 018933 from EU-FP6-NoE Clinigene, No. AV0Z50520514 from the Grant Agency of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, and by the League Against Cancer, Prague.
References
Copyright
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.