C-type lectins, fungi and Th17 responses

doi:10.1016/j.cytogfr.2010.10.001

Cytokine & Growth Factor Reviews

Volume 21, Issue 6, December 2010, Pages 405-412

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cytogfr.2010.10.001 Get rights and content

Under a Creative Commons license

open access

Abstract

Th17 cells are a recently discovered subset of T helper cells characterised by the release of IL-17, and are thought to be important for mobilization of immune responses against microbial pathogens, but which also contribute to the development of autoimmune diseases. The identification of C-type lectin receptors which are capable of regulating the balance between Th1 and Th17 responses has been of particular recent interest, which they control, in part, though the release of Th17 inducing cytokines. Many of these receptors recognise fungi, and other pathogens, and play key roles in driving the development of protective anti-microbial immunity. Here we will review the C-type lectins that have been linked to Th17 type responses and will briefly examine the role of Th17 responses in murine and human anti-fungal immunity.

Keywords

Th17

C-type lectin

Syk kinase

Fungi

Mycobacteria

Cited by (0)

Simon Vautier graduated from Westminster University, and is currently a Ph.D. student with Gordon Brown at the University of Aberdeen studying the role of Dectin-1 in immunity.

Maria da Glória Teixeira de Sousa obtained her Ph.D. in pharmacy at the University of São Paulo, Brazil. Following a postdoctoral period with Gordon Brown at the University of Aberdeen, she returned to the Mycology Group at the Institute of Tropical Medicine, University of São Paulo, to further her interests in immunology and the diagnosis of fungal infections.

Gordon Brown completed a Ph.D. in microbiology at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He was a Wellcome Trust travelling postdoctoral fellow at the University of Oxford, UK, then a Wellcome Trust Senior Fellow at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and is now a Professor of Immunology at the University of Aberdeen. His primary research interests are macrophage receptors and their role in immunity and homeostasis.