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Updated: May 14, 2026

Isolation of CD4+ T-cells and Analysis of Circulating T-follicular Helper (cTfh) Cell Subsets from Peripheral Blood Using 6-color Flow Cytometry
Published on: January 7, 2019
T follicular helper cell diversity and plasticity
Jennifer L Cannons1, Kristina T Lu, Pamela L Schwartzberg
1National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
None:
CD4(+) T helper (Th) cells play an instrumental role in orchestrating adaptive immune responses to invading pathogens through their ability to differentiate into specialized effector subsets. Part of this customized response requires the development of T follicular helper (Tfh) cells, which provide help to B cells for the generation of germinal centers (GCs) and long-term protective humoral responses. Although initially viewed as terminally differentiated, we now recognize that Th cell subsets, including Tfh cells, display substantial flexibility and overlap in their characteristics. In this review, we highlight advances in our understanding of Tfh cell development, cytokine production, and the potential plasticity that allows Tfh cells to possess characteristics of other effector Th cell populations.
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