title: Basophils induce Th2 immunity: is this final answer?
abstract: Despite that basophils represent less than 0.5% of circulating leukocytes, recent studies have begun to unveil their potent immunoregulatory functions, i.e., induction of Th2 immunity. It is believed that basophils are capable of doing so primarily by secreting key Th2-inducing cytokines, namely IL-4 and Thymic Stromal Lymphopoietin (TSLP), and by functioning as professional antigen presenting cells. However, we have recently demonstrated that Th2 immunity can develop in the absence of basophils or IL-4 during helminth infection. In this review, how basophils may (and may not) contribute to the development of Th2 immunity in vivo is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Lerner Research Institute, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA. minb@ccf.org
authors.forename: Booki
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Min
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000938:Antigen-Presenting Cells / Q000276:immunology; D001491:Basophils / Q000276:immunology*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000378:metabolism; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D000094632:Thymic Stromal Lymphopoietin
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D015847:Interleukin-4; D000094632:Thymic Stromal Lymphopoietin