Natural helper cells in allergic airway inflammation

描述(申请人提供)：天然辅助性(NH)细胞是新发现的先天免疫细胞，在蠕虫感染期间或流感感染后产生T-辅助性2型(Th2)细胞因子并促进保护性2型免疫。NH细胞的个体发育及其在变态反应性疾病中的功能尚不清楚。值得注意的是，我们发现NH细胞具有与T细胞祖细胞相似的基因表达谱，并且NH细胞的发育依赖于T细胞早期发育所必需的转录因子TCF-1。我们建议确定NH细胞发育的分子途径。我们还将研究NH细胞在过敏性哮喘发病机制中的作用。这项建议的研究将提高我们对NH细胞的产生和功能的理解，这将为针对Th2相关疾病的NH细胞的治疗策略提供信息。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Natural Helper (NH) cells are newly discovered innate immune cells that produce T-helper type 2 (Th2) cytokines and promote protective type 2 immunity during helminth infection, or after influenza infection. The ontogeny of NH cells and their function in allergic diseases are not known. Strikingly, we find that NH cells have similar gene expression profile as T cell lineage progenitors, and that the development of NH cells is dependent on TCF-1, an essential transcription factor in early T cell development. We propose to determine the molecular pathways that underlie the development of NH cells. We will also examine the role of NH cells in the pathogenesis of allergic asthma. Studies in this proposal will improve our understanding of the generation and function of NH cells, which will inform therapeutic strategies to target NH cells for Th2 associated diseases.