Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
T-helper 2 cells are a specialized population of T cells. They are important for immune responses against pathogens that do not directly infect cells, such as helminth parasites. They also promote tissue repair, but contribute to allergic disorders and diseases such as asthma.
Kratchmarov et al. identified a GATA3+ TH2 population that expresses the transcription factors TCF1 and LEF1 and sustains type 2 inflammation in tissues over a human lifetime, despite chronic antigen exposure.
Gata3 upregulation is required for TH2 cell polarization. McKenzie and colleagues find that integrin αvβ3 is upregulated by Gata3 and that this is crucial in inducing FAK–mTOR signaling required for TH2 cell differentiation.
Oral immunotherapy (OIT) clinical trials have helped a subset of participants achieve sustained unresponsiveness (SU) to the cognate allergen. Here the authors analyse immune cells from participants from one peanut OIT trial and show that CD8+ T cell differentiation status at baseline may help to predict the likelihood of achieving SU.
Cytokine signaling influences the differentiation of CD4+ T cells into varying functional subsets. Here the authors show that an E3 ubiquitin ligase Cul5 alters TH2 and TH9 development and absence of Cul5 in T cells results in higher levels of allergy-associated IL-4 and IL-9 secreting T cells.
Time-limited skin inflammation in neonatal mice promotes a reciprocal interaction between type 2 helper T cells and fascial fibroblasts that regulates wound repair in later life.
Transient skin inflammation in early life leads to the development of T helper 2 cell–fibroblast niches that alter wound repair responses and may drive fibrotic pathology later in life.
A new study reports that TH2-coordinated tissue repair takes precedence over long-term protective immunity in urinary tract infections. Although effective in the interim, this can lead to recurrent infections and bladder dysfunction.
Ricardo Gazzinelli describes studies from the late 1980s and early 1990s that looked at the polarization of the recently described TH1 cell and TH2 cell subsets in the context of parasite infection.
