Molecular Biology Commons^™

The Expression Of Connexin-43 By Cd11c+ Dendritic Cells Is Required To Maintain Cd4+ Foxp3+ Regulatory T Cell Population In Peripheral Lymphoid Organs, Caroline Titus Miller

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Foxp3⁺ regulatory T cells (T_R) are an immunosuppressive subset of CD4⁺ T cells that maintain homeostasis of the immune system. They are sustained by the interaction between the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) molecules present on antigen presenting dendritic cells and the T Cell Receptor (TCR) expressed on T_R cells that is specific for the MHC loaded with an antigenic peptide. Here, we show that in addition to MHC/TCR interaction, Connexin-43 (Cx43) expression by dendritic cells is required to maintain the TR cell population. CD11c⁺ dendritic cells represent a major subset of antigen presenting cells. …