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Nature Immunology 10, 371–372 (1 April 2009) | doi:10.1038/ni0409-371

Revisiting the follicular helper T cell paradigm

Bernard Malissen

Dendritic cells (DCs) carry antigens from the site of infection to secondary lymphoid organs, where they trigger the clonal expansion and terminal differentiation of naive CD4+ T cells. On the basis of the information imparted by DCs about the microbial threat, naive CD4+ T cells can differentiate into at least four different functional subsets (T helper type 1 (TH1) cells, TH2 cells, interleukin 17 (IL-17)-producing helper T cells, and induced regulatory T cells) that are usually defined by the profile of cytokines they produce.