Transcriptional analysis of human tonsil Tfh cells

Follicular helper CD4 T (Tfh) cells provide B cells with signals that are important for the generation of high-affinity Abs and immunological memory and, therefore, are critical for the protective immunity elicited by most human vaccines. In this study we sought to define the gene expression signature of bona fide GC Tfh and Tfh cells. The CD4+ T cell subsets CD45RO+CXCR5-, CD45RO+CXCR5int (Tfh cells), and CD45RO+CXCR5hi (GC Tfh cells) were isolated from 6 tonsil samples for gene expression analysis.