T Cell-Associated Cytokines in the Pathogenesis of Sjögren's Syndrome

Sjögren's syndrome (SjS) is a systemic autoimmune disease that primarily targets salivary and lacrimal glands. SjS affects 2-4 million people in the US alone and greatly affects the life quality of the afflicted individuals. Autoreactive effector T cells are central executors and orchestrators in the pathogenic processes of SjS by mediating target organ inflammation and destruction and by facilitating B cell responses and autoantibody production. A variety of cytokines that are produced by effector T cells or capable of directly affecting effector T cells are elevated in the target organs and circulations of SjS patients. The recent advancement in the understanding about the functions of these cytokines, achieved by using both human samples and mouse disease models, has generated great insights into the cytokine control of autoimmune responses in the SjS disease setting. In this review, we summarized the recent findings on the expression and functions of cytokines in this disease, with specific focus on those derived from T cells and/or directly affecting T cell responses.