In Vitro and In Vivo Studies of IgG-derived Treg Epitopes (Tregitopes): A Promising New Tool for Tolerance Induction and Treatment of Autoimmunity

Tregitopes are regulatory T cell epitopes derived from immunoglobulin G (IgG) that stimulate CD25⁺ FoxP3⁺ T cells to expand. In conjunction with these Tregs, Tregitopes can prevent, treat, and even cure autoimmune disease in mouse models, suppress allo-specific responses in murine transplant models, inhibit CD8⁺ T cell responses to recombinant adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene transfer vectors, and induce adaptive Tregs in DO11.10 mice. In this review of recent Tregitope studies, we summarize their effects in vitro and describe recent comparisons between intravenous IgG (IVIG) and Tregitopes in standard in vivo immune tolerance models. Further investigations of the mechanism of action of Tregitopes in the preclinical models described here will lead to clinical trials where Tregitopes may have the potential to alter the treatment of autoimmune disease, transplantation, and allergy, and to improve the efficiency of gene and protein replacement therapies.