Preclinical study reveals that Thetis cell subset IV drives food-specific regulatory T cell generation during periweaning, highlighting a key therapeutic target for food allergies.
In the intestine, peripherally induced regulatory T (pT reg ) cells play an essential role in suppressing inflammatory responses to food proteins. However, the identity of the antigen-presenting cells that instruct food-specific pT reg cells is poorly understood. We found that a subset of Thetis cells, TC IV, is required for food-specific pT reg cell differentiation. TC IV were almost exclusively present within mesenteric lymph nodes, suggesting that their presence underlies the phenomenon of oral tolerance. A wave of TC IV differentiation in the periweaning period was associated with a window of opportunity for enhanced pT reg cell generation in response to food antigens. Our findings indicate that TC IV may represent a therapeutic target for the treatment of food-associated allergic and inflammatory diseases.
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Cabric et al. (2025) studied this question.
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