生物谷综合： 在9月出版的《自然—免疫学》期刊上，3篇论文分别描述了一种独特白血细胞的发育过程，以及它们在人和小鼠体内的不同发育过程。这种白血细胞对保持肠和身体其他部分如大脑的健康是必需的，与危险性炎症也有关系。
TH—17细胞能产生数种炎症免疫蛋白质，这类蛋白质与炎症相关并能抵御特定细菌的感染。 Rene Waal de Malefyt和Federica Sallusto领导的两个研究小组仔细研究了人类T细胞是怎样发育成TH—17细胞的。他们均发现TH—17细胞在小鼠和人体内发育的必要条件是不同的。新发现令人吃惊又非常重要，因为小鼠通常是被作为研究人类疾病的模式动物。由Michael Lohoff领导的第三个研究小组只研究了TH—17细胞在小鼠中发育，他们发现一种名为干扰素调控因子4的特殊蜂窝状蛋白质是TH—17细胞发育的唯一需求。
这3项研究让科学家们更深入地认识了TH—17炎症细胞在小鼠和人体内的发育过程。对这些炎症T细胞的特殊发育条件的认识也许有助于解释人类大脑和肠道炎症的发病原因。（科学时报）
原始出处:
文章一：
Nature Immunology
Published online: 5 August 2007 | doi:10.1038/ni1496
Interleukins 1 and 6 but not transforming growth factor- are essential for the differentiation of interleukin 17–producing human T helper cells
Eva V Acosta-Rodriguez1, Giorgio Napolitani1, Antonio Lanzavecchia1 & Federica Sallusto1
Abstract
Interleukin 17 (IL-17)–producing CD4+ helper T cells (TH-17 cells) have been linked to host defense and autoimmune diseases. In mice, the differentiation of TH-17 cells requires transforming growth factor- and IL-6 and the transcription factor RORt. We report here that for human naive CD4+ T cells, RORt expression and TH-17 polarization were induced by IL-1 and enhanced by IL-6 but were suppressed by transforming growth factor- and IL-12. Monocytes and conventional dendritic cells, but not monocyte-derived dendritic cells activated by microbial stimuli, efficiently induced TH-17 priming, and this function correlated with antigen-presenting cell production of IL-1 and IL-6 but not IL-12. Our results identify cytokines, antigen-presenting cells and microbial products that promote the polarization of human TH-17 cells and emphasize an important difference in the requirements for the differentiation of TH-17 cells in humans and mice.
