In vivo instruction of suppressor commitment in naive T cells

The induction of antigen-specific tolerance in the mature immune system of the intact organism has met with limited success. Therefore, nonspecific immunosuppression has been the treatment of choice to prevent unwanted immunity. Here, it is shown that prolonged subcutaneous infusion of low doses of peptide by means of osmotic pumps transforms mature T cells into CD4(+)25(+) suppressor cells that can persist for long periods of time in the absence of antigen and confer specific immunologic tolerance upon challenge with antigen. The described procedure resembles approaches of tolerance induction used decades ago, induces tolerance in the absence of immunity, and holds the promise to become an effective means of inducing antigen-specific tolerance prospectively, whereas its power to suppress already ongoing immune responses remains to be determined.