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NRI AT 20: GERMINAL CENTRES

Revealing T follicular helper cells with BCL6

Nature Reviews Immunology volume 21, pages 616–617 (2021)Cite this article

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B cell help was one of the first functions for T cells to be discovered in the 1960s. Nevertheless, it then took another 40 years before T follicular helper (TFH) cells were identified and characterized sufficiently to become accepted as a distinct subset of CD4+ T cells with a specialized differentiation pathway and specialized functions.

The key event for defining the biological relevance of TFH cells, in terms of both their differentiation pathway and biological function, was the demonstration that germinal centres in mice are completely dependent on BCL6 expression in CD4+ T cells. Four research groups (my own and those of Joe Craft, Chen Dong and Carola Vinuesa) independently made this finding in 2009 using multiple complementary experimental approaches.

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References

Original articles

  • Johnston, R. J. et al. Bcl6 and Blimp-1 are reciprocal and antagonistic regulators of T follicular helper cell differentiation. Science 325, 1006–1010 (2009)

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  • Nurieva, R. I. et al. Bcl6 mediates the development of T follicular helper cells. Science 325, 1001–1005 (2009)

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Related articles

  • Breitfeld, D. et al. Follicular B helper T cells express CXC chemokine receptor 5, localize to B cell follicles, and support immunoglobulin production. J. Exp. Med. 192, 1545–1552 (2000)

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  • Kim, C. H. et al. Subspecialization of CXCR5+ T cells: B helper activity is focused in a germinal center-localized subset of CXCR5+ T cells. J. Exp. Med. 193, 1373–1382 (2001)

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  1. Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Shane Crotty

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  1. Shane Crotty
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Correspondence to Shane Crotty.

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Crotty, S. Revealing T follicular helper cells with BCL6. Nat Rev Immunol 21, 616–617 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41577-021-00591-2

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