Next Generation Sequencing Facilitates Quantitative Analysis of TFH2 cell Transcriptomes

Emergence of IgE antibodies that bind allergens with high affinity is highly correlated with the severity of anaphylaxis. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms by which high-affinity IgE is generated remain poorly understood. We discovered that IL-13-producing T follicular helper (TFH) cells, which we designated as TFH2 cells, are generated from conventional TH2 cells by antigen sensitization. TFH2 cells have a unique cytokine profile (IL-4+IL-5-IL-13+IL-21+) and co-express the TFH and TH2 master transcriptional regulators, BCL-6 and GATA3. Naïve CD4T, TH2, or TFH cells of mice were sorted and analyzed the transcriptome using Illumina HiSeq1500.