The expression of Bcl-6 in circulating follicular helper-like T cells positively correlates with the disease activity in systemic lupus erythematosus

Publication date: Available online 3 November 2016
Source:Clinical Immunology
Author(s): Xin Huang, Haijing Wu, Hong Qiu, Huilan Yang, Yaxiong Deng, Ming Zhao, Hairong Luo, Xiang Zhou, Yubin Xie, Vera Chan, Chak-Sing Lau, Qianjin Lu
Increased circulating follicular helper-like T cells (cTfh) are reported in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients. However, whether B-cell lymphoma 6 (Bcl-6) is expressed in cTfh cells remains to be clarified. In this study, we found that the frequencies of CD4⁺CXCR5^hiPD-1^hicTfh, CD4⁺CXCR5^hiPD-1^hiICOS^hi, and CD4⁺CXCR5^hiPD-1^hiBcl-6⁺ populations were significantly increased in SLE patients (n=70) when compared with healthy controls (n=48). Surprisingly, only CD4⁺CXCR5^hiPD-1^hiBcl-6⁺ cTfh cells, rather than CD4⁺CXCR5^hiPD-1^hi population, were positively correlated with SLEDAI and anti-dsDNA antibodies. An elevated level of IL-21 was found in SLE CD4⁺ T cells. Moreover, IL-21 promoted the enrichment of TET2 in Bcl-6 promoter region and induced Bcl-6 expression. Therefore, Bcl-6 expression in cTfh cells may represent a reliable marker for the disease activity in SLE.



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