Development of T Cell Immunity

Adrian Liston is Professor in Autoimmune Genetics at the University of Leuven and the VIB, Belgium. His PhD research was on T cell tolerance and diabetes with Professor Chris Goodnow at the Australian National University, followed by post-doctoral research on regulatory T cell biology with Professor Sasha Rudensky at the University of Washington. The Liston laboratory is supported by an ERC Start Grant, a JDRF Career Development Award, a VIB Investigators Award and grants from the FWO and KUL. Adrian Liston has published more than 70 papers, with over 3000 citations, including key publications on the function of Aire in thymic tolerance, defective tolerance in the NOD mouse, the contribution of immunodeficiency to autoimmunity, microRNA function in regulatory T cells, the discovery of the follicular regulatory T cell, the role of microRNA in the thymic epithelium and the homeostatic control over regulatory T cells.

T cells belong to a group of white blood cells called lymphocytes and play a large role in the immune response. An increased understanding of T cell immunity will provide new insights into the etiology of human autoimmune disease such as diabetes.

This volume reviews the latest developments and discusses the evolution of T cell immunity, thymic requirements, and how to prevent T cell-dependent autoimmunity.

Development of T cell immunity

1. The development of T cell immunity - Adrian Liston

The evolution of T cell immunity

2. Genome duplication and T cell immunity - Masanori Kasahara

• Questions arising from "Genome duplication and T cell immunity" - Claude Perreault
• Response to questions - Masanori Kasahara

1. The origin and role of MHC class I-associated self peptides - Claude Perreault

• Questions arising from "The origin and role of MHC class I-associated self peptides" - Masanori Kasahara
• Response to questions - Claude Perreault

Thymic requirements for T cell immunity

1. Transcriptional regulation of thymus organogensis and thymic epithelial cell differentiation - Nancy Manley and Brian Condie
2. Early T cell differentiation: lessons from T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia - Cedric S Tremblay, Thu Hoang and Trang Hoang

T cell immunity in the periphery

3. Lymphoid tissue inducer cells and the evolution of CD4 dependent high affinity antibody responses - Peter J L Lane, Fiona M McConnell, David Withers, Fabrina Gaspal, Manoj Saini and Graham Anderson

• Commentary on "Lymphoid tissue inducer cells and the evolution of CD4 dependent high affinity antibody responses" - Mark Coles, Dimitri Kioussis and Henrique Veiga-Fernandes

1. Cellular and Molecular Requirements in Lymph Node and Peyer's Patch Development - Mark Coles, Dimitri Kioussis and Henrique Veiga-Fernandes
2. T follicular helper cells during Immunity and Tolerance - Michelle A. Linterman and Carola G. Vinuesa

Preventing T cell-dependent autoimmunity

3. Thymic selection and lineage commitment of CD4⁺Foxp3⁺ regulatory T cells - Paola Romagnoli and Joost P.M. van Meerwijk
4. Molecular Mechanisms of Regulatory T cell Development and Suppressive Function - Jeong M. Kim

• Is Foxp3 the master regulator of regulatory T cells? - Adrian Liston