Journal
IMMUNITY
Volume 30, Issue 5, Pages 646-655Publisher
CELL PRESS
DOI: 10.1016/j.immuni.2009.05.001
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Funding
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute
- Sandler Program for Asthma Research
- National Multiple Sclerosis Society
- Irvington Institute
- Cancer Research Institute Fellowship
- Helen and Martin Kimmel Center for Stem Cell Biology Award
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The differentiation of naive CD4(+) T cells into lineages with distinct effector functions has been considered to be an irreversible event. T helper type 1 (Th1) cells stably express IFN-gamma, whereas Th2 cells express IL-4. The discovery and investigation of two other CD4(+) T cell subsets, induced regulatory T (iTreg) cells and Th17 cells, has led to a rethinking of the notion that helper T cell subsets represent irreversibly differentiated endpoints. Accumulating evidence suggests that CD4(+) T cells, particularly iTreg and Th17 cells, are more plastic than previously appreciated. It appears that expression of Foxp3 by iTreg cells or IL-17 by Th17 cells may not be stable and that there is a great degree of flexibility in their differentiation options. Here, we will discuss recent findings that demonstrate the plasticity of CD4(+) T cell differentiation and the biological implications of this flexibility.
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