Pregnancy favors the expansion of circulating functional follicular helper T Cells

Human follicular helper T (TFH) cells represent a distinct subset of CD4+ T cells found in secondary lymphoid organs and characterized by a high expression of the transcription factor B cell lymphoma-6 (Bcl-6), programmed cell death receptor-1 (PD-1), inducible T-cell co-stimulator (ICOS) and chemokine receptor CXCR5 associated with high IL-21 cytokine secretion (Crotty, 2011). The high expression of CXCR5, associated with low levels of CCR7, allows these lymphocytes to migrate toward lymph node follicles in a CXCL13-dependent manner (Johnston et al., 2009).

Source: Journal of Reproductive Immunology - April 26, 2017 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Clarice Monteiro, Taissa M. Kasahara, Jos é Roberto Castro, Priscila Mendonça, Joana Hygino, Newton Centurião, Tatiane Cassano, Lana M. Ferreira Lopes, Simone Leite, Vander Guimarães Silva, Sudhir Gupta, Cleonice A.M. Bento Source Type: research