With a little help from their friends: interleukin-21, T cells, and B cells.
T follicular cells help B cells generate high-affinity antibodies. Two papers in this issue of Immunity (Nurieva et al., 2008, and Vogelzang et al., 2008) have identified a role for interleukin-21 in the development of these specialized cells and highlight questions about how this dedicated population is generated.
Silver
Jonathan S
JS
Department of Pathobiology, University of Pennsylvania, School of Veterinary Medicine, Room 313, Hill Pavillion, 380 South University Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19104-4539, USA.
Hunter
Christopher A
CA
D000818:Animals; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D018858:Germinal Center / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology; D007378:Interleukins / Q000276:immunology*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000276:immunology; D008211:Lymphocyte Cooperation / Q000276:immunology*; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology*; D006377:T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer / Q000276:immunology*; D000098546:Interleukin-21
D007378:Interleukins; D000098546:Interleukin-21