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Review
. 2008 Jan;123(1):13-6.
doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2567.2007.02775.x.

Special regulatory T-cell review: Regulation of immune responses--examining the role of T cells

Elizabeth Simpson  1
Affiliations
Review

Special regulatory T-cell review: Regulation of immune responses--examining the role of T cells

Elizabeth Simpson. Immunology. 2008 Jan.

Abstract

The history of regulatory T cells goes back to the realisation that T cells could provide 'help' for antibody responses: the obverse of this is their ability to hold them in check. This brief personal overview follows the initial designation of T cells as 'suppressor' and the various hypotheses, some now disproved, put forward for their mechanism of action. We now cautiously label them T regulatory cells, but realise they do not control not all immune regulation. They probably operate through several mechanisms, and some of these are discussed.

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