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Flow Cytometric Analysis of Circulating Follicular Helper T (Tfh) and Follicular Regulatory T (Tfr) Populations in Human Blood

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T follicular Helper Cells

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1291))

Abstract

Follicular helper T (Tfh) cells are the helper T-cell subset that localizes in germinal centers within secondary lymphoid organs. They support B cells to produce high-affinity antibodies and generate B-cell memory. By contrast, follicular regulatory T (Tfr) cells localize in germinal centers to suppress B-cell responses. Coordinately regulating antibody responses, Tfh and Tfr cells play a critical role for vaccination, infectious disease control, and the development of autoimmune diseases. Although bona fide Tfh and Tfr cells are hardly detected in human blood, circulating Tfh and Tfr memory cells in blood can be used to investigate their functions in health and disease. We have developed a comprehensive flow cytometric analysis to define different circulating Tfh and Tfr populations within CXCR5+ CD4+ T-cell population in human blood, based on numerous cell surface markers including CD25, CD127, CCR7, PD-1, CXCR3, and CCR6.

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Acknowledgment

This work was funded by Priority Research Program of Shandong Academy of Sciences, Shandong Taishan Scholar Program, Monash Fellowship and Australian National Health and Medical Research Council CDF Fellowship to D.Y.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Immunology for Environment and Health, Shandong Analysis and Test Center, Shandong Academy of Sciences, Jinan, Shandong, 250014, China

    Yunbo Wei, Jinhong Feng, Zhaohua Hou & Di Yu Ph.D.

  2. Molecular Immunomodulation Laboratory, School of Biomedical Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3800, Australia

    Yunbo Wei

  3. Flow Cytometry Centre, Westmead Millennium Institute, Westmead, NSW, 2145, Australia

    Xin Maggie Wang

  4. Molecular Immunomodulation Laboratory, School of Biomedical Sciences, Monash University, Room 372, Building 75, Melbourne, VIC, 3800, Australia

    Di Yu Ph.D.

Authors
  1. Yunbo Wei
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  2. Jinhong Feng
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  3. Zhaohua Hou
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  4. Xin Maggie Wang
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  5. Di Yu Ph.D.
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Di Yu Ph.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. INSERM UMR_S996, LabEx LERMIT, Université Paris-Sud, Clamart, France

    Marion Espéli

  2. Lymphocyte Signalling and Development ISP Babraham Institute, Babraham Research Campus, Cambridge, United Kingdom

    Michelle Linterman

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Wei, Y., Feng, J., Hou, Z., Wang, X.M., Yu, D. (2015). Flow Cytometric Analysis of Circulating Follicular Helper T (Tfh) and Follicular Regulatory T (Tfr) Populations in Human Blood. In: Espéli, M., Linterman, M. (eds) T follicular Helper Cells. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1291. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2498-1_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2498-1_17

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-2497-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-2498-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

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