The expansion in lymphoid organs of IL-4+ BATF+ T follicular helper cells is linked to IgG4 class switching in vivo

Abstract

Distinct T follicular helper (T_FH) subsets that influence specific class-switching events are assumed to exist, but the accumulation of isotype-specific T_FH subsets in secondary lymphoid organs (SLOs) and tertiary lymphoid organs has not been hitherto demonstrated. IL-4-expressing T_FH cells are surprisingly sparse in human SLOs. In contrast, in IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD), a disorder characterized by polarized Ig class switching, most T_FH cells in tertiary and SLOs make IL-4. Human IL-4⁺ T_FH cells do not express GATA-3 but express nuclear BATF, and the transcriptomes of IL-4-secreting T_FH cells differ from both PD1^hi T_FH cells that do not secrete IL-4 and IL-4-secreting non-T_FH cells. Unlike IgG4-RD, IL-4⁺ T_FH cells are rarely found in tertiary lymphoid organs in Sjögren's syndrome, a disorder in which IgG4 is not elevated. The proportion of CD4⁺IL-4⁺BATF⁺ T cells and CD4⁺IL-4⁺CXCR5⁺ T cells in IgG4-RD tissues correlates tightly with tissue IgG4 plasma cell numbers and plasma IgG4 levels in patients but not with the total plasma levels of other isotypes. These data describe a disease-related T_FH subpopulation in human tertiary lymphoid organs and SLOs that is linked to IgG4 class switching.