Sorting out the Triggers, Differentiation, and Roles of T_H-17 Cells

摘要

Oh, the drama that hides behind Science Watch's inexorable grinding of data. Making its first Top Ten appearance at #8-the only newcomer in fact-is a paper from Federica Sallusto's group at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine in Switzerland. This occasion is its last opportunity to appear, because the Hot Papers lists are based on citations over the preceding two years, and this paper, dating back to June 2007, will henceforth become too "old"for further eligibility. So why now? Why the sudden late spurt?rnProbably because just outside the Top 10 are a couple of papers, including another from Sallusto and colleagues, that depend on, and cite, #8. The big problem is that while these papers delve deeper into the story, they actually make it more complicated. All are about T helper cells. When a "naive" T cell is exposed to antigens (usually from an infection) it differentiates into T helper cells, which secrete various compounds that fight the infection directly and summon other cells of the immune system to help.