| First Author | Leong YA | Year | 2016 |
| Journal | Nat Immunol | Volume | 17 |
| Issue | 10 | Pages | 1187-96 |
| PubMed ID | 27487330 | Mgi Jnum | J:258707 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:6140408 | Doi | 10.1038/ni.3543 |
| Citation | Leong YA, et al. (2016) CXCR5(+) follicular cytotoxic T cells control viral infection in B cell follicles. Nat Immunol 17(10):1187-96 |
| abstractText | During unresolved infections, some viruses escape immunological control and establish a persistant reservoir in certain cell types, such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which persists in follicular helper T cells (TFH cells), and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), which persists in B cells. Here we identified a specialized group of cytotoxic T cells (TC cells) that expressed the chemokine receptor CXCR5, selectively entered B cell follicles and eradicated infected TFH cells and B cells. The differentiation of these cells, which we have called ''follicular cytotoxic T cells'' (TFC cells), required the transcription factors Bcl6, E2A and TCF-1 but was inhibited by the transcriptional regulators Blimp1, Id2 and Id3. Blimp1 and E2A directly regulated Cxcr5 expression and, together with Bcl6 and TCF-1, formed a transcriptional circuit that guided TFC cell development. The identification of TFC cells has far-reaching implications for the development of strategies to control infections that target B cells and TFH cells and to treat B cell-derived malignancies. |
