Regulatory T Cells Across Oral Diseases: A Narrative Review on a Functional Perspective.
- 1Department of Medical Research and Development for Oral Disease, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki 852-8588, Japan.
Abstract
Regulatory T cells (Tregs) maintain peripheral immune tolerance and are involved in various oral diseases with markedly different characteristics. In the oral field, Tregs have largely been discussed through reports on their distribution and numbers, and interpretations of whether their role is protective or pathogenic. Current identification markers do not directly assess the suppressive function, and reports on this function remain limited. This review focuses on the suppressive function of Tregs in the organization of oral diseases. Cells may express FOXP3 without exerting stable suppressive function, and the suppressive capacity of the same FOXP3⁺ cells may vary with TSDR status and the inflammatory environment. In Sjögren's disease, oral lichen planus, periodontitis, and peri-implantitis, inflammation does not resolve even when Treg numbers are increased or maintained. In contrast, Treg suppressive function is enhanced in oral squamous cell carcinoma. Medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw differs in that a reduction in Tregs induced by the causative drugs is itself what governs the condition. Attending to the functional state allows these conditions to be organized coherently and supports a therapeutic conception of Treg control that differs in direction according to the disease: weakening the function where it is enhanced, and restoring it where it is impaired.
Related
- Functional and dysfunctional T regulatory cell states in human tissues in RA and other autoimmune arthritic diseases
- Functional decoding reveals a hidden regulatory layer of the Salmonella transcriptome during infection
- The Lag3 KIEELE motif couples HPK1 to metabolic and functional regulation of Foxp3+ regulatory T cells
- Specialized Metabolites in Cereal Crops Under Abiotic Stress: Regulatory Mechanisms, Functional Validation, and Breeding Implications
- Perturbation-induced gene programs map the hidden regulatory architecture of complex diseases
BibTeX
@article{katsuma2026regulatory,
title = {{Regulatory T Cells Across Oral Diseases: A Narrative Review on a Functional Perspective.}},
author = {Yu Katsuma and Eiko Sakai and Yoshinori Sumita},
journal = {International journal of molecular sciences},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.3390/ijms27198555},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42883805},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Regulatory T Cells Across Oral Diseases: A Narrative Review on a Functional Perspective.
AU - Yu Katsuma
AU - Eiko Sakai
AU - Yoshinori Sumita
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/24
JO - International journal of molecular sciences
DO - 10.3390/ijms27198555
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42883805
AB - Regulatory T cells (Tregs) maintain peripheral immune tolerance and are involved in various oral diseases with markedly different characteristics. In the oral field, Tregs have largely been discussed through reports on their distribution and numbers, and interpretations of whether their role is protective or pathogenic. Current identification markers do not directly assess the suppressive function, and reports on this function remain limited. This review focuses on the suppressive function of Tregs in the organization of oral diseases. Cells may express FOXP3 without exerting stable suppressive function, and the suppressive capacity of the same FOXP3⁺ cells may vary with TSDR status and the inflammatory environment. In Sjögren's disease, oral lichen planus, periodontitis, and peri-implantitis, inflammation does not resolve even when Treg numbers are increased or maintained. In contrast, Treg suppressive function is enhanced in oral squamous cell carcinoma. Medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw differs in that a reduction in Tregs induced by the causative drugs is itself what governs the condition. Attending to the functional state allows these conditions to be organized coherently and supports a therapeutic conception of Treg control that differs in direction according to the disease: weakening the function where it is enhanced, and restoring it where it is impaired.
SN - 1422-0067
ER -