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Nature Medicine 10, 1300 - 1301 (2004)
doi:10.1038/nm1204-1300

Vitamin A helps gut T cells find their way in the dark

Bengt Johansson-Lindbom1 & William W Agace1

  1. The authors are in the Section for Immunology, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden. e-mail: william.agace@immuno.lu.se


Once activated, some T cells home to distinct sites in the body, such as the intestine and inflamed skin. Research in mice shows that dendritic cells in the gut produce a derivative of vitamin A, retinoic acid, that gives T cells directions.


The immune system is capable of generating subsets of activated T cells with distinct tissue-homing potential. For example, T cells activated in the lymph nodes that drain the skin or intestine localize preferentially to these areas.

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