Tolerogenic Splenic IDO⁺ Dendritic Cells from the Mice Treated with Induced-Treg Cells Suppress Collagen-Induced Arthritis

Figure 6

The crosstalk between iTregs and splenic DCs in CIA mice. The feedback loop generated through crosstalk between iTreg and splenic DCs in vivo. Transferred iTregs induce a series of tolerogenic characteristics in splenic DCs, including the reduced costimulatory molecule expression, increased TGF-β secretion, and reduced immunogenicity and effective inhibitory function. Furthermore, these tolerogenic DCs also exhibited protective effects on CIA. In addition, these DCs convert CD4⁺Foxp3⁻ T cells into new Foxp3⁺iTregs in vivo, which inherited the potential suppressive activity and maintained oral tolerance. Obviously, the long-term protection against CIA was influenced through the close relationship and continuous interaction of DCs and iTregs, termed “infectious tolerance.”