The Role of Anergy in Peripheral Regulatory T cell Generation

University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. June 2016. Major: Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology. Advisor: Daniel Mueller. 1 computer file (PDF); vii, 122 pages.The role that anergy, an acquired state of T cell functional unresponsiveness, plays in natural peripheral tolerance remains unclear. In this study, we demonstrate that anergy is selectively induced in fetal antigen-specific maternal CD4+ T cells during pregnancy. A naturally occurring subpopulation of anergic polyclonal CD4+ T cells, enriched in self antigen-specific T cell receptors, is also observed in healthy hosts. Neuropilin-1 expression in anergic conventional CD4+ T cells is associated with thymic regulatory T cell (Treg cell)-related gene hypomethylation, and this correlates with their capacity to differentiate into Foxp3+ Treg cells that suppress immunopathology. Thus, our data suggest that not only is anergy induction important in preventing autoimmunity, but it also generates the precursors for peripheral Treg cell differentiatio