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Updated: Apr 17, 2026

Evaluation of T Follicular Helper Cells and Germinal Center Response During Influenza A Virus Infection in Mice
Published on: June 27, 2020
ICOS maintains the T follicular helper cell phenotype by down-regulating Krüppel-like factor 2
Jan P Weber1, Franziska Fuhrmann1, Randi K Feist1
1Chronic Immune Reactions, Cell Biology, and Bioinformatics, German Rheumatism Research Centre, a Leibniz Institute, 10117 Berlin, Germany Molecular Immunology, Robert Koch Institute, 13353 Berlin, Germany.
Abstract:
The co-stimulators ICOS (inducible T cell co-stimulator) and CD28 are both important for T follicular helper (TFH) cells, yet their individual contributions are unclear. Here, we show that each molecule plays an exclusive role at different stages of TFH cell development. While CD28 regulated early expression of the master transcription factor Bcl-6, ICOS co-stimulation was essential to maintain the phenotype by regulating the novel TFH transcription factor Klf2 via Foxo1. Klf2 directly binds to Cxcr5, Ccr7, Psgl-1, and S1pr1, and low levels of Klf2 were essential to maintain this typical TFH homing receptor pattern. Blocking ICOS resulted in relocation of fully developed TFH cells back to the T cell zone and reversion of their phenotype to non-TFH effector cells, which ultimately resulted in breakdown of the germinal center response. Our study describes for the first time the exclusive role of ICOS and its downstream signaling in the maintenance of TFH cells by controlling their anatomical localization in the B cell follicle.
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