Département of Microbiologie, Infectiologie et Immunologie and Centre de Recherche du CHUM, Faculté de Médecine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC H2X 0A9, Canada.
Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
Viruses. 2017 Oct 19;9(10):303. doi: 10.3390/v9100303.
The T helper 17 (Th17) cells represent a subset of CD4+ T-cells with unique effector functions, developmental plasticity, and stem-cell features. Th17 cells bridge innate and adaptive immunity against fungal and bacterial infections at skin and mucosal barrier surfaces. Although Th17 cells have been extensively studied in the context of autoimmunity, their role in various other pathologies is underexplored and remains an area of open investigation. This review summarizes the history of Th17 cell discovery and the current knowledge relative to the beneficial role of Th17 cells in maintaining mucosal immunity homeostasis. We further discuss the concept of Th17 pathogenicity in the context of autoimmunity, cancer, and HIV infection, and we review the most recent discoveries on molecular mechanisms regulating HIV replication/persistence in pathogenic Th17 cells. Finally, we stress the need for novel fundamental research discovery-based Th17-specific therapeutic interventions to treat pathogenic conditions associated with Th17 abnormalities, including HIV infection.
辅助性 T 细胞 17（Th17）细胞是一类具有独特效应功能、发育可塑性和干细胞特征的 CD4+T 细胞亚群。Th17 细胞在皮肤和黏膜屏障表面连接固有免疫和适应性免疫，以抵御真菌和细菌感染。尽管 Th17 细胞在自身免疫性疾病的研究中已经得到广泛研究，但它们在各种其他病理中的作用尚未得到充分探索，仍然是一个开放的研究领域。本文综述了 Th17 细胞发现的历史以及当前关于 Th17 细胞在维持黏膜免疫稳态中的有益作用的知识。我们进一步讨论了 Th17 致病性在自身免疫、癌症和 HIV 感染背景下的概念，并回顾了关于调节致病性 Th17 细胞中 HIV 复制/持续性的分子机制的最新发现。最后，我们强调需要基于新的基础研究发现的 Th17 特异性治疗干预来治疗与 Th17 异常相关的致病性疾病，包括 HIV 感染。
