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Updated: Jun 13, 2026

A Strategy for the Study of IL-9-Producing Lymphoid Cells in the Nippostrongylus brasiliensis Infection Model
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A Strategy for the Study of IL-9-Producing Lymphoid Cells in the Nippostrongylus brasiliensis Infection Model

Published on: March 3, 2023

The transcription factor PU.1 is required for the development of IL-9-producing T cells and allergic inflammation

Hua-Chen Chang1, Sarita Sehra, Ritobrata Goswami

  • 1Department of Pediatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA.

Nature Immunology
|May 1, 2010
PubMed

CD4(+) helper T cells acquire effector phenotypes that promote specialized inflammatory responses. We show that the ETS-family transcription factor PU.1 was required for the development of an interleukin 9 (IL-9)-secreting subset of helper T cells. Decreasing PU.1 expression either by conditional deletion in mouse T cells or the use of small interfering RNA in human T cells impaired IL-9 production, whereas ectopic PU.1 expression promoted IL-9 production. Mice with PU.1-deficient T cells developed normal T helper type 2 (T(H)2) responses in vivo but showed attenuated allergic pulmonary inflammation that corresponded to lower expression of Il9 and chemokines in peripheral T cells and in lungs than that of wild-type mice. Together our data suggest a critical role for PU.1 in generating the IL-9-producing (T(H)9) phenotype and in the development of allergic inflammation.

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