Increased Proportion of Dual-Positive Th2–Th17 Cells Promotes a More Severe Subtype of Asthma

Figure 1

Cytokines IL-1β, IL-6, anti-IFN-γ, and IL-21 promote dual-positive Th2–Th17 cell differentiation. (a) Mice immunized intraperitoneally (i.p.) with 100 μg of OVA for 3 days continuously. Then, spleen CD4⁺ T cells were isolated for cytokine interventions. 20 ng/mL IL-1β, 20 ng/mL IL-6, 20 ng/mL anti-IFN-γ, and 10 ng/mL IL-21 or 10 ng/mL IL-23 were added. After 0, 1, 2, 4, and 6 days of differentiation, cells were harvested for the following studies. (b) The proportion of dual-positive Th2–Th17 cells was assessed by flow cytometry. Data are the representative of at least three separate experiments.

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