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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2016 May 24.
Published in final edited form as: Gerontology. 2013 Nov 28;60(2):130–137. doi: 10.1159/000355303

Table 2. Possible mechanisms of age-related expansion of Tregs.

The expansion of naturally occurring Tregs with advancing age could be due to a number of reasons listed here.

Possible Mechanisms of Age-related Expansion of Tregs
Loss of naïve T cells opens “space”
Changes in Treg homing patterns
Increased conversion of CD4 T effector cells into CD4 T
suppressor cells
Antigen-induced expansion of CD4 Treg cells
Survival advantage of CD4 Tregs compared to CD4 T effector cells
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