Therapeutic agonists of TNFRSF25 can be used to stimulate
Treg expansion, which can reduce inflammation in experimental models of
asthma,
allogeneic solid organ transplantation and ocular
keratitis. Similarly, because TNFRSF25 activation is antigen dependent, costimulation of TNFRSF25 together with an autoantigen or with a vaccine antigen can lead to exacerbation of immunopathology or enhanced vaccine-stimulated immunity, respectively. TNFRSF25 stimulation is therefore highly specific to T cell mediated immunity, which can be used to enhance or dampen inflammation depending on the temporal context and quality of foreign vs self antigen availability. Stimulation of TNFRSF25 in humans may lead to similar, but more controllable, effects as coinhibitory receptor blockade targeting molecules such as
CTLA-4 and
PD-1. == References ==