Bcl6 mediates the development of T follicular helper cells

Roza I. Nurieva, Yeonseok Chung, Gustavo J. Martinez, Xuexian O. Yang, Shinya Tanaka, Tatyana D. Matskevitch, Yi Hong Wang, Chen Dong

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1159 Scopus citations

Abstract

A fundamental function of CD4+ helper (TH) cells is the regulation of B cell-mediated humoral immunity. Development of T follicular helper (TFH) cells that provide help to B cells is mediated by the cytokines interleukin-6 and interleukin-21 but is independent of TH1, TH2, and TH17 effector cell lineages. Here, we characterize the function of Bcl6, a transcription factor selectively expressed in TFH cells. Bcl6 expression is regulated by interleukin-6 and interleukin-21. Bcl6 overexpression induced TFH-related gene expression and inhibited other TH lineage cell differentiation in a DNA binding-dependent manner. Moreover, Bcl6 deficiency in T cells resulted in impaired TFH cell development and germinal center reactions, and altered production of other effector T cell subsets. Our data thus illustrate that Bcl6 is required for programming of TFH cell generation.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1001-1005
Number of pages5
JournalScience
Volume325
Issue number5943
DOIs
StatePublished - 2009

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General

MD Anderson CCSG core facilities

  • Flow Cytometry and Cellular Imaging Facility
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