title: Understanding the Regulatory Roles of Natural Killer T Cells in Rheumatoid Arthritis: T Helper Cell Differentiation Dependent or Independent?
abstract: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common chronic systemic autoimmune disease. This disease is thought to be caused by pathogenic T cells. Th1, Th2, Th17 and Treg cells have been implicated in the pathogenesis of RA. These Th cells differentiate from CD4+ T cells primarily due to the effects of cytokines. Natural killer T (NKT) cells are a distinct subset of lymphocytes that can rapidly secrete massive amount of cytokines, including IL-2, IL-4, IL-12 and IFN-γ. Numerous studies showed that NKT cells can influence the differentiation of CD4+ T cells via cytokines in vitro. These findings suggest that NKT cells play an important role in RA by polarizing Th1, Th2, Th17 and Treg cells. In view of the complexity of RA, we discussed whether NKT cells really influence the development of RA through regulating the differentiation of Th cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, The Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China. jwchen2008@aliyun.com.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, The Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, The Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qiao
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, The Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D002450:Cell Communication / Q000276:immunology; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000276:immunology; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D018664:Interleukin-12 / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D055611:Natural Killer T-Cells / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D015398:Signal Transduction; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D058504:Th17 Cells / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: C573415:IFNG protein, human; C508598:IL4 protein, human; D007376:Interleukin-2; D018664:Interleukin-12; D015847:Interleukin-4; D007371:Interferon-gamma