Khazaie and colleagues show that TCF-1 cooperates with FOXP3 to differentially regulate independent suppressive activities of Treg cells. Treg cell–specific deficiency of TCF-1 increases tumor load in mice predisposed to polyposis. Functionally, TCF-1-deficient Treg cells suppress viral antigen–specific CD8+ T cell cytotoxicity, but TCF-1-deficient Treg cells fail to suppress TH1 or TH17 polarization of conventional CD4+ T cells. This scenario leads to increased cytokine-mediated tissue inflammation but still restrains the adaptive antitumor cytotoxicity.
- Abu Osman
- Bingyu Yan
- Khashayarsha Khazaie
