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Original Article |
b Center for Molecular Biology and Medicine, Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California 94304
c Biomedical Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada BC V6T 1Z3
d Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Incorporated, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139
Stanford University, PAVAH 154B, Bldg. 101, Rm. C4-111, 3801 Miranda Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94304-1207.650-858-3986650-493-5000 ext. 63167
chkim{at}stanford.edu
The T helper (Th) cell pool is composed of specialized cells with heterogeneous effector functions. Apart from Th1 and 2 cells, CXCR5+ T cells have been suggested to be another type of effector T cell specialized for B cell help. We show here that CXCR5+ T cells are heterogeneous, and we identify subsets of CXCR5+ CD4 T cells that differ in function and microenvironmental localization in secondary lymphoid tissues. CD57+CXCR5 T cells, hereafter termed germinal center Th (GC-Th) cells, are localized only in GCs, lack CCR7, and are highly responsive to the follicular chemokine B lymphocyte chemoattractant but not to the T cell zone EBI1-ligand chemokine. Importantly, GC-Th cells are much more efficient than CD57–CXCR5+ T cells or CXCR5– T cells in inducing antibody production from B cells. Consistent with their function, GC-Th cells produce elevated levels of interleukin 10 upon stimulation which, with other cytokines and costimulatory molecules, may help confer their B cell helper activity. Our results demonstrate that CXCR5+ T cells are functionally heterogeneous and that the GC-Th cells, a small subset of CXCR5+ T cells, are the key helpers for B cell differentiation and antibody production in lymphoid tissues.
Key Words: germinal center chemokine receptor CXCR5 B cell help T helper cells
© 2001 The Rockefeller University Press
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