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The transcription factor network in Th9 cells

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Abstract

The development of T helper cell subsets requires activated T cells that respond to a polarizing cytokine environment resulting in the activation and expression of transcription factors. The subset-specific transcription factors bind and induce the production of specific effector cytokines. Th9 cells express IL-9 and develop in the presence of TGFβ, IL-4, and IL-2. Each of these cytokines activates signaling pathways that are required for Th9 differentiation and IL-9 production. In this review, I summarize what is currently understood about the signaling pathways and transcription factors that promote the Th9 genetic program, providing some perspective for the integration of the signals in regulating the Il9 gene and dictating the expression of other Th9-associated genes. I highlight how experiments in mouse cells have established a transcriptional network that is conserved in human T cells and set the stage toward defining the next important questions for a more detailed understanding of Th9 cell development and function.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Public Health Service grants R01 AI057459 and R03 AI101628 to MHK. Support provided by the Herman B Wells Center was in part from the Riley Children’s Foundation. I thank Drs. R. Nicholas Laribee, Geoffrey Kansas, and Matthew Olson for comments on this review.

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Correspondence to Mark H. Kaplan.

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This article is a contribution to the special issue on Th9 Cells in Immunity and Immunopathological Diseases - Guest Editors: Mark Kaplan and Markus Neurath

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Kaplan, M.H. The transcription factor network in Th9 cells. Semin Immunopathol 39, 11–20 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00281-016-0600-2

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