Resting dendritic cells induce peripheral CD8+ T cell tolerance through PD-1 and CTLA-4

T cells recognizing self proteins exist without causing autoimmunity in healthy individuals. These autoreactive T cells are kept in check by peripheral tolerance. Using a model for peripheral CD8+ T cell tolerance resulting from antigen presentation by resting dendritic cells in vivo, we show here that CD8+ T cell tolerance operates through T cell–intrinsic mechanisms such as deletion or functional inactivation. Peripheral CD8+ T cell tolerance depended on signaling via the costimulatory molecule PD-1, as an absence of PD-1 converted tolerance induction into priming. Blocking of the costimulatory molecule CTLA-4 resulted in impaired tolerance and enhanced the effect of the absence of PD-1, suggesting that PD-1 and CTLA-4 act synergistically. Thus PD-1 and CTLA-4 are crucial molecules for peripheral CD8+ T cell tolerance induced by resting dendritic cells.