Co-signaling receptors regulate T-cell plasticity and immune tolerance.

We took an experimental database mining analysis to determine the expression of 28 co-signaling receptors in 32 human tissues in physiological/pathological conditions. We made the following significant findings: 1) co-signaling receptors are differentially expressed in tissues; 2) heart, trachea, kidney, mammary gland and muscle express co-signaling receptors that mediate CD4(+)T cell functions such as priming, differentiation, effector, and memory; 3) urinary tumor, germ cell tumor, leukemia and chondrosarcoma express high levels of co-signaling receptors for T cell activation; 4) expression of inflammasome components are correlated with the expression of co-signaling receptors; 5) CD40, SLAM, CD80 are differentially expressed in leukocytes from patients with trauma, bacterial infections, polarized macrophages and in activated endothelial cells; 6) forward and reverse signaling of 50% co-inhibition receptors are upregulated in endothelial cells during inflammation; and 7) STAT1 deficiency in T cells upregulates MHC class II and co-stimulation receptors. Our results have provided novel insights into co-signaling receptors as physiological regulators and potentiate identification of new therapeutic targets for the treatment of sterile inflammatory disorders.