Regulatory T cells play an essential role in preventing fetal rejection by the maternal immune system. Here we show that, based on the expression of CCR5, regulatory T cells can be divided into a highly suppressive CCR5 ؉ and a far less suppressive CCR5 ؊ subpopulation, suggesting that the former represent the effector arm of regulatory T cells. Although regulatory T cells from CCR5 ؊/؊ gene deletion mutants still suppress, they are less effective mediators of maternal-fetal tolerance. The accumulation of CCR5 ؉ regulatory T cells at this site appears to be enhanced by alloantigen. This finding is in stark contrast to the systemic expansion of regulatory T cells during pregnancy, which appears to be alloantigenindependent. The fact that CCR5 ؉ regulatory T cells preferentially accumulate in the gravid uterus and that expression of CCR5 on regulatory T cells can be induced by activation lead us to propose that CCR5 is responsible for the accumulation of those regulatory T cells that have been activated by paternal antigens.effector T cells ͉ pregnancy ͉ tolerance ͉ chemokine receptor R egulatory T cells (T R cells) play an important role in the maintenance of peripheral tolerance and the prevention of autoimmunity (1). Where T R cells exert their suppressive function and what attracts them to and retains them at their site of action is poorly understood. Inducible T R cells (Tr1-like cells) have a preference for skin homing (2), whereas naturally occurring Foxp3 ϩ T R cells can be found in all lymphoid organs (3, 4). The CD103 ϩ subpopulation of T R cells has been shown to home to the site of inflammation (5); however, the mechanism by which this occurs remains elusive.Previously, we have demonstrated that naturally occurring T R cells mediate maternal tolerance to the fetus and can be found in the uterus during pregnancy (6). Although the uterine accumulation of macrophages (7), natural killer cells (8, 9), and eosinophils (10) has been extensively studied, there has been no insight on how T R cells find their way to the gravid uterus.Upon activation, professional antigen-presenting cells express the chemokine CCL4, which leads to the recruitment and/or retention of T R cells (11). Although it remains unclear which chemokine receptor is responsible for the CCL4-mediated effects on T R cells, biochemical studies have shown CCL4 to bind to the chemokine receptor CCR5 (12). Expression of CCR5 on T cells has been associated with both proinflammatory and antiinflammatory T cell function in mouse and human. CCR5 is thought to be expressed on antigen-experienced, effector T cells that home toward sites of inflammation outside the secondary lymphoid organs (13-15). CCR5 ϩ T cells have been shown to infiltrate inflamed sites such as the synovium of rheumatoid arthritis patients (16,17) and the central nervous system of mice with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (18). Expression of CCR5 in pancreatic islets correlates with increased severity of diabetes in mice (19), and CCR5 is thought to mediate T cell migratio...