title: Autocrine transforming growth factor-β1 promotes in vivo Th17 cell differentiation.
abstract: TGF-β1 is a regulatory cytokine that has an important role in controlling T cell differentiation. T cell-produced TGF-β1 acts on T cells to promote Th17 cell differentiation and the development of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). However, the exact TGF-β1-producing T cell subset required for Th17 cell generation and its cellular mechanism of action remain unknown. Here we showed that deletion of the Tgfb1 gene from activated T cells and Treg cells, but not Treg cells alone, abrogated Th17 cell differentiation, resulting in almost complete protection from EAE. Furthermore, differentiation of T cells both in vitro and in vivo demonstrated that TGF-β1 was highly expressed by Th17 cells and acted in a predominantly autocrine manner to maintain Th17 cells in vivo. These findings reveal an essential role for activated T cell-produced TGF-β1 in promoting the differentiation of Th17 cells and controlling inflammatory diseases.
authors: Immunology Program, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10065, USA.
authors: Ilona
authors: I
authors: Gutcher
authors: Moses K
authors: MK
authors: Donkor
authors: Qian
authors: Q
authors: Ma
authors: Alexander Y
authors: AY
authors: Rudensky
authors: Richard A
authors: RA
authors: Flavell
authors: Ming O
authors: MO
authors: Li
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019898:Autocrine Communication; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D058504:Th17 Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology*; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1 / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1