| First Author | Banczyk D | Year | 2014 |
| Journal | Eur J Immunol | Volume | 44 |
| Issue | 1 | Pages | 93-102 |
| PubMed ID | 24114675 | Mgi Jnum | J:208655 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:5563882 | Doi | 10.1002/eji.201343811 |
| Citation | Banczyk D, et al. (2014) Activated CD4+ T cells enter the splenic T-cell zone and induce autoantibody-producing germinal centers through bystander activation. Eur J Immunol 44(1):93-102 |
| abstractText | CD4(+) T (helper) cells migrate in huge numbers through lymphoid organs. However, little is known about traffic routes and kinetics of CD4(+) T-cell subsets within different organ compartments. Such information is important because there are indications that CD4(+) T cells may influence the function of microenvironments depending on their developmental stage. Therefore, we investigated the migration of resting (naive), activated, and recently activated (memory) CD4(+) T cells through the different compartments of the spleen. Resting and recently activated CD4(+) T cells were separated from thoracic duct lymph and activated CD4(+) T cells were generated in vitro by cross-linking the T-cell receptor and CD28. The present study shows that all three CD4(+) T-cell subsets selectively accumulate in the T-cell zone of the spleen. However, only activated T cells induce the formation of germinal centers (GCs) and autoantibodies in rats and mice. Our results suggest that in a two-step process they first activate B cells independent of the T-cell receptor repertoire and CD40 ligand (CD154) expression. The activated B cells then form GCs whereby CD154-dependent T-cell help is needed. Thus, activated T cells may contribute to the development of autoimmune diseases by activating autoreactive B cells in an Ag-independent manner. |
