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Updated: Jun 14, 2026

Mouse Naïve CD4+ T Cell Isolation and In vitro Differentiation into T Cell Subsets
Published on: April 16, 2015
A cell-intrinsic glucocorticoid biosynthesis and sensing circuit maintains a homeostatic Th17 cell state
Dandan Yang1, Linglin Huang1, Hanning Cheng1
1Gene Lay Institute of Immunology and Inflammation, Harvard Medical School and Mass General Brigham, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02149, USA; Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Harvard Medical School and Mass General Brigham, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Abstract:
T helper 17 (Th17) cells are heterogeneous: homeostatic Th17 (Th17Hom) cells maintain tissue homeostasis, and pro-inflammatory Th17 (Th17Inf) cells drive autoimmune inflammation. IL-23 drives Th17Inf, but the signals that maintain Th17Hom remain unclear. Here, we found that differential glucocorticoid (GC) production downstream of CYP11A1, a critical enzyme for steroidogenesis, distinguished Th17Hom cells from Th17Inf cells. Although TCR signaling opened the Cyp11a1 locus, TGF-β1 and IL-6, key cytokines for Th17Hom cell differentiation, maintained and amplified Cyp11a1. Th17Hom cell-derived GC signaled through the glucocorticoid receptor (GR), which was higher in Th17Hom cells compared with Th17Inf cells, thereby forming a circuit that maintained the homeostatic state. Integration of multi-omics data from CYP11A1- and GR-deficient Th17Hom cells revealed a gene network underlying this circuit. TGF-β1, a key node in the network, restored GC sensing to Th17Inf. We thus identify a GC signaling circuit that maintains Th17 homeostasis with implications for treating Th17-mediated autoimmunity.
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