美国洛克菲勒大学Gabriel D. Victora研究团队发现，末期生发中心里滤泡辅助T细胞的Foxp3会发生表达。这一研究成果于2021年7月16日发表在国际学术期刊《科学》上。
研究人员表明，在免疫诱导的生发中心（GC）收缩之前，GC驻留的Foxp3+T细胞会立即急剧增加，至少部分是由于T滤泡辅助细胞（TFH）对转录因子Foxp3的上调。TFH细胞中Foxp3的异位表达足以减少GC的大小，这意味着TFH细胞对Foxp3的自然上调是GC寿命的一个潜在调节因素。
据介绍，GC是免疫球蛋白体细胞超突变和亲和力成熟的场所，也是有效抗体反应所必需的过程。人们对GC的形成进行了详细的研究，但对是什么导致了它们的退缩和终止却知之甚少，这些因素最终限制了抗体在一次反应中的成熟程度。
附：英文原文
Title: Expression of Foxp3 by T follicular helper cells in end-stage germinal centers
Author: Johanne T. Jacobsen, Wei Hu, Tiago B. R. Castro, Sigrid Solem, Alice Galante, Zeran Lin, Samuel J. Allon, Luka Mesin, Angelina M. Bilate, Arin Schiepers, Alex K. Shalek, Alexander Y. Rudensky, Gabriel D. Victora
Issue&Volume: 2021/07/16
Abstract: Germinal centers (GCs) are the site of immunoglobulin somatic hypermutation and affinity maturation, processes essential to an effective antibody response. The formation of GCs has been studied in detail, but less is known about what leads to their regression and eventual termination, factors that ultimately limit the extent to which antibodies mature within a single reaction. We show that contraction of immunization-induced GCs is immediately preceded by an acute surge in GC-resident Foxp3+ T cells, attributed at least partly to up-regulation of the transcription factor Foxp3 by T follicular helper (TFH) cells. Ectopic expression of Foxp3 in TFH cells is sufficient to decrease GC size, implicating the natural up-regulation of Foxp3 by TFH cells as a potential regulator of GC lifetimes.
DOI: 10.1126/science.abe5146
Source: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/373/6552/eabe5146