Maintaining immune tolerance is a dynamic biological process which is provided by various types of tolerance mechanisms. In the light of the remarkable role of co-inhibitory receptors for switching-off the immune system, the potential impact of these receptors in controlling auto-reactivity is needed to be interrogated. Recent investigations suggested that sustained expression of co-inhibitory receptors in chronic immune responses including cancer and chronic infections can result in immunological consequences called exhaustion. Because of the co-inhibitory receptors, exhaustion confers a potent “switch-off” mechanism for immune response. Using both co-inhibitory receptors and transcription factors in controlling T cells behavior, this review provide an overview of the potential effects of co-inhibitory receptors in maintaining tolerance and discuss how impaired co-inhibitory receptors might results in autoimmunity.

维持免疫耐受是一种动态的生物学过程，由各种类型的耐受机制提供。鉴于共抑制受体在关闭免疫系统中的显着作用，需要研究这些受体在控制自身反应性方面的潜在影响。最近的研究表明，共抑制性受体在包括癌症和慢性感染在内的慢性免疫反应中的持续表达会导致免疫学后果，称为疲惫。由于存在共抑制受体，疲惫赋予免疫反应强大的“关闭”机制。利用共抑制受体和转录因子控制T细胞行为，