scholarly journals Follicular Helper CD4+ T Cells, Follicular Regulatory CD4+ T Cells, and Inducible Costimulator and Their Roles in Multiple Sclerosis and Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Xue Zhang ◽  
Ruli Ge ◽  
Hongliang Chen ◽  
Maxwell Ahiafor ◽  
Bin Liu ◽  
...  

Follicular helper CD4+ T (TFH) cells are a specialized subset of effector T cells that play a central role in orchestrating adaptive immunity. TFH cells mainly promote germinal center (GC) formation, provide help to B cells for immunoglobulin affinity maturation and class-switch recombination of B cells, and facilitate production of long-lived plasma cells and memory B cells. TFH cells express the nuclear transcriptional repressor B cell lymphoma 6 (Bcl-6), the chemokine (C-X-C motif) receptor 5 (CXCR5), the CD28 family members programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) and inducible costimulator (ICOS) and are also responsible for the secretion of interleukin-21 (IL-21) and IL-4. Follicular regulatory CD4+ T (TFR) cells, as a regulatory counterpart of TFH cells, participate in the regulation of GC reactions. TFR cells not only express markers of TFH cells but also express markers of regulatory T (Treg) cells containing FOXP3, glucocorticoid-induced tumor necrosis factor receptor (GITR), cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4), and IL-10, hence owing to the dual characteristic of TFH cells and Treg cells. ICOS, expressed on activated CD4+ effector T cells, participates in T cell activation, differentiation, and effector process. The expression of ICOS is highest on TFH and TFR cells, indicating it as a key regulator of humoral immunity. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a severe autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system and results in disability, mediated by autoreactive T cells with evolving evidence of a remarkable contribution from humoral responses. This review summarizes recent advances regarding TFH cells, TFR cells, and ICOS, as well as their functional characteristics in relation to MS.

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1038-1054 ◽  
Author(s):  
Félicien Moukambi ◽  
Henintsoa Rabezanahary ◽  
Yasmina Fortier ◽  
Vasco Rodrigues ◽  
Julien Clain ◽  
...  

AbstractMesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs), that drain the large and small intestine, are critical sites for the induction of oral tolerance. Although depletion of CD4 T cells in the intestinal lamina propria is a hallmark of HIV infection, CD4 T cell dynamics in MLNs is less known due to the lack of accessibility to these LNs. We demonstrate the early loss of memory CD4 T cells, including T follicular helper cells (Tfh) and a remodeling of MLN architecture in SIV-infected rhesus macaques (RMs). Along with the loss of Tfh cells, we observe the loss of memory B cells and of germinal center B cells. Tfh cells display a Th1 profile with increased levels of the transcription factors that negatively impact on Tfh differentiation and of Stat5 phosphorylation. MLNs of SIV-infected RMs display lower mRNA transcripts encoding for IL-12, IL-23, and IL-35, whereas those coding for IL-27 are not impaired in MLNs. In vitro, IL-27 negatively impacts on Tfh cells and recapitulates the profile observed in SIV-infected RMs. Therefore, early defects of memory CD4 T cells, as well of Tfh cells in MLNs, which play a central role in regulating the mucosal immune response, may have major implications for Aids.


2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (43) ◽  
pp. 13324-13329 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Philip Nance ◽  
Simon Bélanger ◽  
Robert J. Johnston ◽  
Joyce K. Hu ◽  
Toshitada Takemori ◽  
...  

T follicular helper (Tfh) cells are essential providers of help to B cells. The transcription factor B-cell CLL/lymphoma 6 (Bcl6) is a lineage-defining regulator of Tfh cells and germinal center B cells. In B cells, Bcl6 has the potential to recruit distinct transcriptional corepressors through its BTB domain or its poorly characterized middle domain (also known as RDII), but in Tfh cells the roles of the Bcl6 middle domain have yet to be clarified. Mimicked acetylation of the Bcl6 middle domain (K379Q) in CD4 T cells results in significant reductions in Tfh differentiation in vivo. Blimp1 (Prdm1) is a potent inhibitor of Tfh cell differentiation. Although Bcl6 K379Q still bound to the Prdm1 cis-regulatory elements in Tfh cells, Prdm1 expression was derepressed. This was a result of the failure of Bcl6 K379Q to recruit metastasis-associated protein 3 (MTA3). The loss of Bcl6 function in Bcl6 K379Q-expressing CD4 T cells could be partially rescued by abrogating Prdm1 expression. In addition to Prdm1, we found that Bcl6 recruits MTA3 to multiple genes involved in Tfh cell biology, including genes important for cell migration, cell survival, and alternative differentiation pathways. Thus, Bcl6 middle domain mediated repression is a major mechanism of action by which Bcl6 controls CD4 T-cell fate and function.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. e0199694 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chelsea R. Parker Harp ◽  
Angela S. Archambault ◽  
Julia Sim ◽  
Mark J. Shlomchik ◽  
John H. Russell ◽  
...  

Cell ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 175 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-100.e23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivan Jelcic ◽  
Faiez Al Nimer ◽  
Jian Wang ◽  
Verena Lentsch ◽  
Raquel Planas ◽  
...  

Blood ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 99 (1) ◽  
pp. 388-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thierry Bonnefoix ◽  
Jian-Qing Mi ◽  
Pascal Perron ◽  
Mary Callanan ◽  
Cosima Semoun ◽  
...  

Blood ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 110 (11) ◽  
pp. 1347-1347
Author(s):  
Zhi-Zhang Yang ◽  
Anne J. Novak ◽  
Thomas E. Witzig ◽  
Stephen M. Ansell

Abstract Numerous clinical therapies have attempted to modulate tumor cell immunity, but for the most part, have proven unsuccessful. The inability to produce or augment an effective immune response is due in part to regulatory T (Treg) cells, which inhibit CD4 and CD8 T cell function. Our group has recently shown that Treg cell numbers are elevated in NHL tumors and that NHL B cells induce the development of Treg cells thereby inhibiting anti-tumor responses. The ability of NHL B cells to direct the cellular composition of their microenvironment is critical to our understanding of tumor immunity and we therefore wanted to determine if NHL B cells also directed the expansion or reduction of other T cell populations. IL-17-secreting CD4+ T cells (TH17), a newly characterized CD4+ T helper cell lineage, promote inflammation and play an important role in autoimmune disease. IL-17 has been shown to inhibit tumor cell growth suggesting a potential role for TH17 cells in anti-tumor immunity. We therefore set out to determine if TH17 cells were present in NHL tumors and whether or not their numbers were regulated by NHL B cells. Using unsorted mononuclear cells from malignant lymph nodes, we were unable to detect IL-17 expression in resting CD4+ T cells or CD4+ T cells activated with PMA/Ionomycin stimulation (less than 1%). However, IL-17-secreting CD4+ T cells could be detected in significant numbers in inflammatory tonsil and normal PBMCs. Interestingly, depletion of CD19+ NHL B cells from mononuclear cells obtained from patient biopsies resulted in detection of a clear population of IL-17-secreting CD4+ T cells (5%). These results suggest that NHL B cells suppress TH17 cell differentiation. The frequency of IL-17-secreting CD4+ T cells could not be further enhanced by the addition of exogenous TGF-b and IL-6, a cytokine combination favoring for TH17 differentiation, suggesting a further impairment of TH17 cell differentiation in the tumor microenvironment. In contrast, Foxp3 expression could be detected in resting CD4+ T cells (30%) and could be induced in CD4+CD25−Foxp3− T cells activated with TCR stimulation (28%). Contrary to the inhibition of TGF-b-mediated TH17 differentiation, Foxp3 expression could be dramatically upregulated by TGF-b in intratumoral CD4+ T cells (35%). In addition, lymphoma B cells strongly enhanced Foxp3 expression in intratumoral CD4+CD25−Foxp3−. Furthermore, when added together, the frequency of Foxp3+ T cells and Foxp3-inducible cells reached up to 60% of CD4+ T cells in tumor microenvironment of B-cell NHL. These findings suggest that the balance of effector TH17 cells and inhibitory Treg cells is disrupted in B-cell NHL and significantly favors the development of inhibitory Treg cells. Our data indicate that lymphoma B cells are key factor in regulating differentiation of intratumoral CD4+ T cells toward inhibitory CD4+ T cells.


Blood ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 116 (21) ◽  
pp. 2862-2862
Author(s):  
Stephen M Ansell ◽  
Hui Tang ◽  
Grzegorz S. Nowakowski ◽  
Daniel Nikcevich ◽  
Garth D Nelson ◽  
...  

Abstract Abstract 2862 Follicular lymphoma (FL) is a B-cell malignancy that exhibits significant intratumoral infiltration by non-malignant T lymphocytes. The pathophysiological significance of infiltrating T cells is poorly understood but recent studies have suggested that CD4+CD25+ regulatory T (Treg) cells are highly represented in lymph nodes involved by FL. These Treg cells display the ability to suppress the proliferation and cytokine production of other tumor-infiltrating T cells and migrate to areas of B-cell lymphoma in response to chemotactic signals provided by the malignant B-cells. Denileukin diftitox, a chimeric immunotoxin composed of the modified cytotoxic domain of diphtheria toxin and human interleukin-2 (IL-2) protein, targets cells expressing CD25 and has proven efficacy in patients with relapsed B-cell lymphoma. In this study, we combined denileukin diftitox with rituximab in a cohort of previously untreated, advanced-stage follicular lymphoma patients. Our hypothesis was that denileukin diftitox would deplete the Treg cells, thereby removing the inhibition of the immune response, and rituximab would deplete the B-cells thereby preventing further recruitment of Treg cells to the areas of lymphoma. Between August 2008 and March 2010, twenty-four patients with stage III and IV follicular grade 1 or 2 non-Hodgkin lymphoma were accrued to the study. One patient died before treatment was given and is not included in the analysis. The median age was 60 years (range: 27 – 79), 12 (52%) of the patients were male, 19 (83%) had a PS of 0 and 4 (17%) had a PS of 1. Based on the Follicular Lymphoma International Prognostic Index (FLIPI), 3 (13%) were low risk, 14 (61%) were intermediate risk and 6 (26%) were high risk. Patients received rituximab 375 mg/m2 on days 1, 8, 15 and 22 and denileukin diftitox 18 mcg/kg/day on days 1–5 every 3 weeks for 4 cycles. A median of 4 cycles of therapy was given (range: 1 – 4). Thirteen patients completed treatment per protocol (57%), however 5 patients discontinued treatment due to adverse events (22%), 2 refused further treatment (9%) and 1 discontinued due to disease progression (4%). Nine of the 23 patients (39%; 95% CI: 21–61%) responded to treatment, 3 (13%) had a complete response and 6 (26%) had a partial response. Twenty-one patients (91%) are alive with a median follow-up of 8.7 months (range: 3.4–19.5). Seven (30%) patients have progressed and two (8.7%) has died. The median time to progression is 13.4 months (95% CI: 10.4 – NA). The combination, however, was associated with significant toxicity. Thirteen patients (57%) experienced grade 3 or greater adverse events. Six patients (26%) had symptoms of capillary leak syndrome, 1 of whom died. In correlative studies performed on the peripheral blood, the number of CD25+ T-cells decreased after treatment when compared to pretreatment numbers (median 24%; range: 8–44%). We conclude that while the addition of denileukin diftitox to rituximab decreased the numbers of CD25+ T-cells, denileukin diftitox contributed significantly to the toxicity of the combination. Furthermore, the overall response rate and time to progression in this study were no better than what would be expected in follicular lymphoma patients treated with rituximab alone. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


2017 ◽  
Vol 131 (24) ◽  
pp. 2933-2945 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinrui Wang ◽  
Yonggang Zhu ◽  
Manli Zhang ◽  
Jie Hou ◽  
Hongjuan Wang ◽  
...  

B-cell immunity participates in the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis (UC). The immune balance between follicular regulatory T (TFR) cells and follicular helper T (TFH) cells is important in regulating B-cell responses. However, the alteration of TFR/TFH balance in UC remains unclear. Peripheral blood from 25 UC patients and 15 healthy controls was examined for the frequencies of circulating TFR, TFH, and regulatory T (Treg) cells by flow cytometry. Levels of serum cytokines were measured using cytometric bead array (CBA). Disease activity was evaluated by the Mayo Clinic Score. Compared with controls, UC patients exhibited significant reductions in circulating Foxp3+CXCR5+ TFR cells, the subset interleukin (IL)-10+Foxp3+CXCR5+ cells, and Treg cells, but significant expansions in Foxp3−CXCR5+ TFH cells and IL-21+Foxp3−CXCR5+ cells. UC patients also had reduced levels of serum IL-10 and elevated levels of serum IL-21. The values of Mayo Clinic Score, C-reactive protein (CRP), or erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) in UC patients were negatively correlated with circulating TFR cells, serum IL-10 level, and TFR/TFH ratio, while positively correlated with circulating TFH cells and serum IL-21 level. Alterations in circulating TFR and TFH cells shift the balance from immune tolerance to immune responsive state, contributing to dysregulated B-cell immunity and the pathogenesis of UC.


2015 ◽  
Vol 90 (6) ◽  
pp. 2718-2728 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suresh Pallikkuth ◽  
Mark Sharkey ◽  
Dunja Z. Babic ◽  
Sachin Gupta ◽  
Geoffrey W. Stone ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTIn this study, we examined the peripheral blood (PB) central memory (TCM) CD4+T cell subsets designated peripheral T follicular helper cells (pTfh cells) and non-pTfh cells to assess HIV permissiveness and persistence. Purified pTfh and non-pTfh cells from healthy HIV-negative donors were tested for HIV permissiveness using green fluorescent protein (GFP)-expressing HIV-1NL4-3/Ba-L, followed by viral reactivation using beads coated with anti-CD3/anti-CD28 monoclonal antibodies. The role of pTfh cells in HIV persistence was analyzed in 12 chronically HIV-1 infected patients before and 48 weeks after initiation of raltegravir-containing combination antiretroviral therapy (cART). Total cellular HIV-1 DNA and episomes containing two copies of the viral long terminal repeat (2LTR circles) were analyzed in using droplet digital PCR in the purified pTfh and non-pTfh cells. Activation-inducible HIV p24 expression was determined by flow cytometry. Results indicate that pTfh cells, in particular PD1+pTfh cells, showed greater permissiveness for HIV infection than non-pTfh cells. At week 48 on cART, HIV DNA levels were unchanged from pre-cART levels, although a significant decrease in 2LTR circles was observed in both cell subsets. Inducible HIV p24 expression was higher in pTfh cells than in non-pTfh cells, with the highest frequencies in the PD1+CXCR3−pTfh cell subset. Frequencies of HLADR+CD38+activated CD4 T cells correlated with 2LTR circles in pTfh and non-pTfh cells at both time points and with p24+cells at entry. In conclusion, among CD4 TCMcells in PB of aviremic patients on cART, pTfh cells, in particular the PD1+CXCR3−subset, constitute a major HIV reservoir that is sustained by ongoing residual immune activation. The inducible HIV p24 assay is useful for monitoring HIV reservoirs in defined CD4 T cell subsets.IMPORTANCEIdentification of the type and nature of the cellular compartments of circulating HIV reservoirs is important for targeting of HIV cure strategies. In lymph nodes (LN), a subset of CD4 T cells called T follicular helper (Tfh) cells are preferentially infected by HIV. Central memory (TCM) CD4 T cells are the major cellular reservoir for HIV in peripheral blood and contain a subset of CD4 TCMcells expressing chemokine receptor CXCR5 similar in function to LN Tfh cells termed peripheral Tfh (pTfh) cells. We found that the circulating pTfh cells are highly susceptible to HIV infection and that in HIV-infected patients, HIV persists in these cells following plasma virus suppression with potent cART. These pTfh cells, which constitute a subset of TCMCD4 T cells, can be readily monitored in peripheral blood to assess HIV persistence.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tingting Ding ◽  
Rui Su ◽  
Ruihe Wu ◽  
Hongwei Xue ◽  
Yanyan Wang ◽  
...  

Balance of Tfh/Tfr cell is critically important for the maintenance of immune tolerance, as evidenced by the fact that T follicular helper (Tfh) cells are central to the autoantibodies generation through providing necessary help for germinal center (GC) B cells, whereas T follicular regulatory (Tfr) cells significantly inhibit autoimmune inflammation process through restraining Tfh cell responses. However, signals underlying the regulation of Tfh and Tfr cells are largely undefined. Regulatory B cells (Bregs) is a heterogeneous subpopulation of B cells with immunosuppressive function. Considerable advances have been made in their functions to produce anti‐inflammatory cytokines and to regulate Th17, Th1, and Treg cells in autoimmune diseases. The recent identification of their correlations with dysregulated Tfr/Tfh cells and autoantibody production makes Bregs an important checkpoint in GC response. Bregs exert profound impacts on the differentiation, function, and distribution of Tfh and Tfr cells in the immune microenvironment. Thus, unraveling mechanistic information on Tfh-Breg and Tfr-Breg interactions will inspire novel implications for the establishment of homeostasis and prevention of autoantibodies in diverse diseases. This review summarizes the dysregulation of Tfh/Tfr cells in autoimmune diseases with a focus on the emerging role of Bregs in regulating the balance between Tfh and Tfr cells. The previously unsuspected crosstalk between Bregs and Tfh/Tfr cells will be beneficial to understand the cellular mechanisms of autoantibody production and evoke a revolution in immunotherapy for autoimmune diseases.


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