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Evaluation of T Follicular Helper Cells and Germinal Center Response During Influenza A Virus Infection in Mice
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Interleukin-2 inhibits germinal center formation by limiting T follicular helper cell differentiation

André Ballesteros-Tato1, Beatriz León, Beth A Graf

  • 1Department of Medicine, Division of Allergy, Immunology and Rheumatology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14642, USA.

Immunity
|April 3, 2012
PubMed

T follicular helper (Tfh) cells promote T cell-dependent humoral immune responses by providing T cell help to B cells and by promoting germinal center (GC) formation and long-lived antibody responses. However, the cellular and molecular mechanisms that control Tfh cell differentiation in vivo are incompletely understood. Here we show that interleukin-2 (IL-2) administration impaired influenza-specific GCs, long-lived IgG responses, and Tfh cells. IL-2 did not directly inhibit GC formation, but instead suppressed the differentiation of Tfh cells, thereby hindering the maintenance of influenza-specific GC B cells. Our data demonstrate that IL-2 is a critical factor that regulates successful Tfh and B cell responses in vivo and regulates Tfh cell development.

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