title: A preliminary study on the characterization of follicular helper T (Tfh) cells in rheumatoid arthritis synovium.
abstract: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic and systematic autoimmune inflammatory disease. Recently, a novel T cell subset, follicular helper CD4 T cell (Tfh cells) was found in relation to the pathogenesis and progression of RA, and increased numbers of circulating Tfh cells were found in RA patients. However, there is little evidence regarding the localization of Tfh cells in synovium tissues from RA patients, owing to the lack of an available method to characterize their localization in tissue. The aim of our present study was to characterize the Tfh cells in rheumatoid synovium tissues from RA patients by using immunohistochemistry and triple-fluorescence immunostaining methods. Our results showed that specific staining of CD4, CXCR5 and ICOS could be found on infiltrating immune cells in rheumatoid synovium tissues. The use of triple-fluorescence immunostaining and confocal laser scanning showed immunolocalization of CD4(+)CXCR5(+)ICOS(+)T cells (Tfh cells) in the rheumatoid synovium tissues, whereas these signals were absent in osteoarthritis (OA) synovium and in normal synovium tissues. Thus the data from our present preliminary study support the notion that CD4(+)CXCR5(+)ICOS(+)Tfh cells could be found in rheumatoid synovium tissues from RA patients, indicating the possibility that this T cell subset in synovium tissues may have important roles in the pathogenesis and progression of RA.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Internal Medicine, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou 213003, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.affiliation: Testing Center, Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Changzhou 213000, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Fengming
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of General Internal Medicine, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou 213003, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Meng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Comprehensive Laboratory, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou 213003, Jiangsu, China. Electronic address: clj_sz@163.com.
authors.forename: Lujun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of General Internal Medicine, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou 213003, Jiangsu, China. Electronic address: lyh6605900@163.com.
authors.forename: Yahua
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lu
mesh_terms: D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000276:immunology*; D015704:CD4 Antigens / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D060889:Inducible T-Cell Co-Stimulator Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D054380:Receptors, CXCR5 / Q000378:metabolism; D013583:Synovial Membrane / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D006377:T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015704:CD4 Antigens; C095085:CXCR5 protein, human; C556692:ICOS protein, human; D060889:Inducible T-Cell Co-Stimulator Protein; D054380:Receptors, CXCR5
keywords: Confocal laser scanning; Follicular helper T cells; Immunohistochemistry; Rheumatoid arthritis