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

Nature Medicine volume 10, pages 1300–1301 (2004)Cite this article

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. Immunologically, this phenomenon makes sense, because it allows activated T cells to target those tissues that are most likely to contain cognate antigen. In a recent issue of Immunity, Iwata et al.1 show how activated T cells are marked for transit to the gut. They report that dendritic cells in gut tissue generate retinoic acid, which prompts the generation of gut-tropic T cells.

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Figure 1: Retinoic acid–induced acquisition of gut-homing molecules during T-cell activation.

Ann Thomson

Figure 2: T cells in the intestinal mucosa.

Reprinted with permission from Cell Press

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Section for Immunology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

    Bengt Johansson-Lindbom & William W Agace

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  1. Bengt Johansson-Lindbom
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  2. William W Agace
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Johansson-Lindbom, B., Agace, W. Vitamin A helps gut T cells find their way in the dark. Nat Med 10, 1300–1301 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm1204-1300

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