Understanding suppressor cells: where have we gone wrong?

Abstract

The initial description of regulatory cells which modulate immune responses was reported in 1970 by Gershon and Kondo [1]. Since that time there have been numerous descriptions of lymphoid populations which depress immune responses in an antigen specific fashion. Phenotypic analyses of these populations generally indicate that suppressor cells express cell surface antigens which are absent on other T cell subsets, e.g. I-J or idiotype-related determinants [2, 3]. Many different experimental models have been used to characterize antigen specific suppressor T cells (Ts). The scope of this review will be confined to questions concerning Ts which demonstrate nominal antigen specificity during their induction, activation and/or interactions.