Figure - PMC

Skip to main content

An official website of the United States government

Here's how you know

Here's how you know

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

View full-text article in PMC

. 2021 Jan 7;22(2):523. doi: 10.3390/ijms22020523

Search in PMC
Search in PubMed
View in NLM Catalog
Add to search

© 2021 by the authors.

Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

PMC Copyright notice

The cytokine environment regulates the Tfh/Th1 balance. Top panel: Upon prolonged or inflammatory viral replication, IFN-α production inducesIL-6 secretion by dendritic cells, which promotes Tfh differentiation through Bcl-6induction. Tfh cells then produce IL-21, which provides help to maturing B cells. Bottom panel: Transient and non-cytopathic viral replication induces limited IFN-αproduction but still causes DC maturation with IL-12 production, which promotes Th1differentiation via T-bet induction. IL-2 also plays a key role in Th1 differentiation by inducing Blimp-1 and inhibiting Tfh differentiation. Reciprocally, IL-6 inhibits Th1differentiation, in part through downregulation of the IL-2 receptor.