| First Author | Reinhardt RL | Year | 2009 |
| Journal | Nat Immunol | Volume | 10 |
| Issue | 4 | Pages | 385-93 |
| PubMed ID | 19252490 | Mgi Jnum | J:147784 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3842219 | Doi | 10.1038/ni.1715 |
| Citation | Reinhardt RL, et al. (2009) Cytokine-secreting follicular T cells shape the antibody repertoire. Nat Immunol 10(4):385-93 |
| abstractText | High-affinity antibodies are critical for host protection and underlie successful vaccines. The generation of such antibodies requires T cell-dependent help, which mediates germinal center reactions in which mutation and selection of B cells occurs. Using an interleukin 4-reporter system, we show here that CD4(+) follicular helper T cells constituted essentially all of the cytokine-secreting T cells in lymph nodes and were functionally distinct from T cells secreting the same cytokine in peripheral tissues. Follicular helper T cells with different cytokine profiles could be isolated as conjugates with B cells undergoing cytokine-specific immunoglobulin class switching with evidence of somatic hypermutation. Our findings support a model in which B cells compete for cytokines produced by follicular helper T cells that shape the affinity and isotype of the antibody response. |
