Molecular Markers Distinguishing T Cell Subtypes With TSDR Strand-Bias Methylation.

Human regulatory CD4CD25FOXP3 T cells (Treg) play important roles in the maintenance of self-tolerance and immune homeostasis in various disease settings and are also involved in the suppression of effective immune responses. These cells are heterogeneous in phenotype and function, and the ability to reliably distinguish between various FOXP3-expressing subpopulations can affect the development of successful therapies. This study demonstrates that hypomethylated CpG sites, present in four regions of the locus, and gene regions, can be used to distinguish several subsets of Treg from conventional CD4 T lymphocytes (Tcon) in donors of both genders.