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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2014 Jan 24.
Published in final edited form as: Immunity. 2013 Jan 24;38(1):13–25. doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2013.01.004

Figure 5. IL-2 is important in many types of T effector cell differentiation.

Figure 5

Shown is the induction by IL-2 of IL-12Rβ2 to promote Th1 cell differentiation, of IL-4Rα to promote Th2 cell differentiation, and of IL-2Rα to promote Treg cell differentiation. Conversely, IL-2 represses expression of gp130 (and IL-6Rα) while inducing T-bet (not shown) to repress Th17 cell differentiation. IL-2 is also a repressor of Tfh differentiation based on its repression of BCL6 expression. Finally, IL-2 promotes the differentiation, expansion, and the cytolytic activity of cytotoxic T cells.