Pathogenic CD4⁺ T cells in patients with asthma

Area of Science:

• Immunology
• Respiratory Medicine
• Cell Biology

Background:

• Asthma presents diverse clinical phenotypes driven by T cell inflammation.
• Recent insights into T cell biology and cytokine influences at epithelial barriers are reshaping asthma understanding.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review current knowledge on pathogenic CD4+ T cells in asthma, integrating mouse models and human data.
• To highlight molecular pathways, key transcription factors like GATA-3, and cellular crosstalk in T cell responses.
• To discuss novel concepts in T cell skewing, atypical T cell origins, and single-cell pathogenicity.

Main Methods:

• Review of recent literature on T cell biology in asthma.
• Integration of findings from mouse models and human disease studies.
• Discussion of advancements in single-cell profiling technologies.

Main Results:

• T helper 2 (T_H2) cells are central to allergic asthma, driving IgE sensitization, airway hyperreactivity, and eosinophilia.
• Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP), IL-25, and IL-33 play critical roles at the epithelial barrier.
• Dendritic cell hubs integrate environmental cues to shape T cell specificity and skewing.

Conclusions:

• Understanding T cell heterogeneity and pathogenicity is crucial for asthma management.
• Single-cell technologies offer unprecedented opportunities to study T cells in human asthma.
• These advancements promise to accelerate the development of targeted, personalized asthma therapies.