The Rheumatologist
COVID-19 NewsACR Convergence
  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed
  • Home
  • Conditions
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • SLE (Lupus)
    • Crystal Arthritis
      • Gout Resource Center
    • Spondyloarthritis
    • Osteoarthritis
    • Soft Tissue Pain
    • Scleroderma
    • Vasculitis
    • Systemic Inflammatory Syndromes
    • Guidelines
  • Resource Centers
    • Axial Spondyloarthritis Resource Center
    • Gout Resource Center
    • Psoriatic Arthritis Resource Center
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis Resource Center
    • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Resource Center
  • Drug Updates
    • Biologics & Biosimilars
    • DMARDs & Immunosuppressives
    • Topical Drugs
    • Analgesics
    • Safety
    • Pharma Co. News
  • Professional Topics
    • Ethics
    • Legal
    • Legislation & Advocacy
    • Career Development
      • Certification
      • Education & Training
    • Awards
    • Profiles
    • President’s Perspective
    • Rheuminations
    • Interprofessional Perspective
  • Practice Management
    • Billing/Coding
    • Quality Assurance/Improvement
    • Workforce
    • Facility
    • Patient Perspective
    • Electronic Health Records
    • Apps
    • Information Technology
    • From the College
    • Multimedia
      • Audio
      • Video
  • Resources
    • Issue Archives
    • ACR Convergence
      • Gout Resource Center
      • Axial Spondyloarthritis Resource Center
      • Psoriatic Arthritis
      • Abstracts
      • Meeting Reports
      • ACR Convergence Home
    • American College of Rheumatology
    • ACR ExamRheum
    • Research Reviews
    • ACR Journals
      • Arthritis & Rheumatology
      • Arthritis Care & Research
      • ACR Open Rheumatology
    • Rheumatology Image Library
    • Treatment Guidelines
    • Rheumatology Research Foundation
    • Events
  • About Us
    • Mission/Vision
    • Meet the Authors
    • Meet the Editors
    • Contribute to The Rheumatologist
    • Subscription
    • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Search
You are here: Home / Articles / Peripheral Helper Cells May Provide Clue to RA Pathology

Peripheral Helper Cells May Provide Clue to RA Pathology

February 27, 2017 • By Lara C. Pullen, PhD

  • Tweet
  • Email
Print-Friendly Version / Save PDF

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) possess an immune system that attacks the joints, causing inflammation, pain and, eventually, tissue destruction. RA can be either seropositive or seronegative, with seropositive RA patients often presenting with more severe symptoms. Although rheumatologists assume pathological cellular immune responses occur in patients with seropositive RA, they have, until now, lacked a cellular marker that distinguishes between seropositive and seronegative populations.

You Might Also Like
  • Rheumatology Research Foundation Funding Enables Potential Treatment Advancements
  • 2015 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting: T Follicular Helper Cells Emerge as Potential Treatment Target for Autoimmune Diseases
  • Patients with Lupus: Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells Fail to Induce Regulatory B Cells
Also By This Author
  • Diagnosis, Treatment Updates for Lyme Arthritis

This month, Deepak A. Rao, MD, PhD, co-director of the Human Immunology Center at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) in Boston, and colleagues published their description of a newly identified subset of T cells, named peripheral helper (TPH) cells. These cells appear to work within the inflamed non-lymphoid tissues of patients with seropositive RA to promote pathological B cell responses and antibody production. The investigators used mass cytometry and RNA sequencing to perform a detailed analysis of this small population of cells found in the synovium of patients with seropositive RA. They published their results in the Feb. 2 issue of Nature.¹

ad goes here:advert-1
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

Their transcriptome analysis revealed a population of PD-1hiCXCR5–CD4+ T cells (TPH) that had expanded in the joints of patients with seropositive RA. PD-1 is well known as an inhibitory receptor; although these cells expressed high levels of PD-1, they are not exhausted. Rather, the cells expressed factors that enable B cell help, including IL-21, CXCL13, ICOS and MAF.

“We’ve known for a long time that T cells and B cells infiltrate the synovium and contribute to inflammation in the joint,” explains Dr. Rao in an email to The Rheumatologist. “This study identifies a large population of T cells in the synovium that appears to drive the B cell response in the joint. Discovery of this population may allow us to develop new therapies that specifically target this pathologic T cell population, while sparing other protective T cells.”

ad goes here:advert-2
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

TPH Cells in the Synovium
The TPH cells represent approximately one-quarter of the helper T cells found in RA joints. The researchers explain that the TPH cells are similar to PD-1hiCXCR5+ T follicular helper cells in that they induce plasma cell differentiation in vitro via IL-21 excretion and SLAMF5 interaction. A closer analysis of the transcriptome of the novel TPH population revealed, however, that TPH and T follicular helper cells differ in expression of BCL6 and BLIMP1.

“There’s a general sense among rheumatologists that seropositive RA behaves differently from seronegative RA,” elaborates Dr. Rao. “The specific enrichment of TPH cells in seropositive RA samples and not other inflammatory arthritides (i.e., seronegative RA, psoriatic arthritis, juvenile arthritis) is really striking.”

Pages: 1 2 | Single Page

Filed Under: Conditions, Rheumatoid Arthritis Tagged With: B cells, peripheral helper cells, Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), seropositive RA, T cell

You Might Also Like:
  • Rheumatology Research Foundation Funding Enables Potential Treatment Advancements
  • 2015 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting: T Follicular Helper Cells Emerge as Potential Treatment Target for Autoimmune Diseases
  • Patients with Lupus: Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells Fail to Induce Regulatory B Cells
  • Insights into the Metabolic Control of RA T Cells

American College of Rheumatology

Visit the official website for the American College of Rheumatology.

Visit the ACR »

Rheumatology Research Foundation

The Foundation is the largest private funding source for rheumatology research and training in the U.S.

Learn more »

Meeting Abstracts

Browse and search abstracts from the ACR Convergence and ACR/ARP Annual Meetings going back to 2012.

Visit the Abstracts site »

The Rheumatologist newsmagazine reports on issues and trends in the management and treatment of rheumatic diseases. The Rheumatologist reaches 11,500 rheumatologists, internists, orthopedic surgeons, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, and other healthcare professionals who practice, research, or teach in the field of rheumatology.

About Us / Contact Us / Advertise / Privacy Policy / Terms of Use / Cookie Preferences

  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed

Copyright © 2006–2023 American College of Rheumatology. All rights reserved.

ISSN 1931-3268 (print)
ISSN 1931-3209 (online)