Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 21, 2026

Accessing Early Differentiation of Virus-Specific Follicular Helper CD4+ T Cell in Acute LCMV-Infected Mice
Published on: April 26, 2024
The transcriptional repressor Bcl-6 directs T follicular helper cell lineage commitment
Di Yu1, Sudha Rao, Louis M Tsai
1Immunology and inflammation, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia.
Abstract:
Follicular helper T (Tfh) cells provide selection signals to germinal center B cells, which is essential for long-lived antibody responses. High CXCR5 and low CCR7 expression facilitates their homing to B cell follicles and distinguishes them from T helper 1 (Th1), Th2, and Th17 cells. Here, we showed that Bcl-6 directs Tfh cell differentiation: Bcl-6-deficient T cells failed to develop into Tfh cells and could not sustain germinal center responses, whereas forced expression of Bcl-6 in CD4(+) T cells promoted expression of the hallmark Tfh cell molecules CXCR5, CXCR4, and PD-1. Bcl-6 bound to the promoters of the Th1 and Th17 cell transcriptional regulators T-bet and RORgammat and repressed IFN-gamma and IL-17 production. Bcl-6 also repressed expression of many microRNAs (miRNAs) predicted to control the Tfh cell signature, including miR-17-92, which repressed CXCR5 expression. Thus, Bcl-6 positively directs Tfh cell differentiation, through combined repression of miRNAs and transcription factors.
Related Concept Videos
Lineage Commitment
B Cell Activation and Differentiation
When naive B cells encounter a specific antigen that can bind to the B cell receptor (BCR) on their surface, they undergo sensitization to respond to the antigen's presence. Sensitization begins with...
Cells of the Adaptive Immune Response
T Cell Activation and Clonal Selection
Naive T cells that have not yet encountered an antigen express two primary CD...
General Transcription Factors
T Cell Types and Functions
Th1 cells stimulate dendritic cells to express necessary co-stimulatory molecules on their surfaces for...

