Oxysterols hold T cells in check

摘要

The oxysterol-dependent gene transcription factor LXRβ restricts premature expansion of T cells by limiting cellular cholesterol levels. This pathway might be a pharmacological target for regulating immune responses. Adaptive immune responses depend on the activation and expansion of specific subsets of white blood cells such as T cells in response to antigens. Although it has long been appreciated that such proliferative responses are linked to the uptake and de novo synthesis of cholesterol for membrane formation, whether cholesterol-efflux pathways can limit cell division has not been considered. Reporting in Cell, Bensinger et al. provide evidence that cholesterol efflux is indeed used to inhibit the proliferation of resting T cells - T cells that have not yet encountered an antigen.