Inhibition of Donor-Reactive CD8+ T Cell Responses by Selective CD28 Blockade Is Independent of Reduced ICOS Expression.

Programmed T cell differentiation is critically influenced by the complement of costimulatory and coinhibitory signals transmitted during initial antigen encounter. We previously showed that selective CD28 blockade with novel domain antibodies that leave CTLA-4-mediated coinhibitory signaling intact resulted in more profound attenuation of donor-reactive T cell responses and improved graft survival in a murine transplant model. Selective CD28 blockade was also associated with decreased ICOS expression on donor-reactive CD8+ T cell responses as compared to CTLA-4 Ig, but the functional importance of this reduced ICOS expression was not known.