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. 2013 Jan;182(1):10–20. doi: 10.1016/j.ajpath.2012.08.041

Figure 2.

Figure 2

The plasticity and balance of Th17 and Tregs in tumor microenvironments. The balance and commitment between Th17 and Tregs may be controlled by the tumor microenvironment. In the presence of tumor microenvironmental cytokines IL-6, TGF-β, and IL-21, CD4+FOXP3+ Tregs can differentiate into IL-17-producing Th17 cells (IL-17+/FOXP3+). Th17 cells also have the capacity to reciprocally differentiate into IFN-γ+FOXP3+ Tregs by repetitive tumor antigen (Ag) stimulations. In addition, tumor microenvironmental factors such as IL-2, retinoic acid (RA), or indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) may facilitate this Th17-to-Treg conversion.