TLDR Memory regulatory T cells need IL-7, not IL-2, to stay in peripheral tissues.
The study demonstrated that memory regulatory T cells (mTregs) in mice, which are crucial for suppressing tissue-specific autoimmunity, required IL-2 for their initial generation from naive CD4+ T cells but not for their maintenance in peripheral tissues such as skin and skin-draining lymph nodes. Instead, IL-7 was essential for the survival of mTregs in the skin. The findings highlighted the distinct roles of IL-2 and IL-7 in the lifecycle of mTregs, with IL-7 being particularly important for their persistence in nonlymphoid tissues.
286 citations
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June 2012 in “Nature Immunology” Hair follicles help attract immune cells to the skin during stress.
1 citations
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January 2023 in “International Journal of Molecular Sciences” Understanding how Regulatory T Cells work could help create treatments for certain skin diseases and cancers.
3 citations
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January 2023 in “JEADV Clinical Practice” IL-17 is more important than IFN-γ in causing severe hair loss in chronic alopecia areata.
60 citations
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September 2015 in “Expert Review of Clinical Immunology” Lymphocytes, especially CD8+ T cells, play a key role in causing alopecia areata, and targeting them may lead to new treatments.
9 citations
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March 2022 in “Frontiers in Immunology” Foxp3+ Regulatory T Cells are important for immunity and tolerance, affect hair growth and wound healing, and their dysfunction can contribute to obesity-related diseases and other health issues.
October 2023 in “bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)” Early regulatory T cells are crucial for normal skin pigmentation.
245 citations
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October 2015 in “Nature medicine” Hair follicle-derived IL-7 and IL-15 are crucial for maintaining skin-resident memory T cells and could be targeted for treating skin diseases and lymphoma.
