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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2018 Jul 1.
Published in final edited form as: Trends Parasitol. 2017 May 5;33(7):519–531. doi: 10.1016/j.pt.2017.04.001

Figure 4. Toxoplasma Induces Pathogenic Tregs That Hinder Skeletal Muscle Regeneration.

Figure 4

Regeneration of skeletal muscle from injury is a stepwise process that requires monocytes and pro-inflammatory macrophages (IM/M1) for the clearance of damaged myofibers and a transition in situ to pro-regenerative macrophages (M2) and activation of satellite cells for the regeneration of myofibers. Suppressive regulatory T cells (Tregs) are required for the IM/M1 to M2 transition (top panel). Toxoplasma infection in skeletal muscle significantly alters the function of Tregs such that they acquire pathogenic action and promote IM/M1 accumulation and persistence, which results in an impaired skeletal muscle repair response (bottom panel).