T-helper 17 cells

Kuchroo and colleagues review T_H17 cell heterogeneity and discuss how this affects the function of T_H17 cells in homeostasis and disease.

Th17 cells are critical players in the immunopathology of a range of autoimmune diseases. Here the authors implicate Hedgehog signaling in Th17 polarization and in the immunopathology of intestinal inflammation in murine models and suggest therapeutic targeting of Hedgehog signaling in the context of inflammatory bowel disease.

Neutrophils are critical in the immune response to infective agents and have multiple effector strategies including the production of extracellular traps termed NETs. Here the authors show a link between NET production and Th17 differentiation which mechanistically occurs downstream of TLR2 signalling.

Dendritic cells in the lung may be specialised to mediate specific types of immune function. Here the authors show that subpopulations of mouse CD11b⁺ lung DC at different stages of maturation and phenotype can promote Th17 or Th2 CD4⁺ T cell differentiation.

Korn and colleagues demonstrate that the site of T cell priming (gut versus skin draining lymph nodes) dictates their effector phenotypes and homing to distal sites of immunopathology.