Understanding the basis of cellular differentiation is a fundamental issue in developmental biology but also for the comprehension of pathological processes. In fact, the palette of developmental decisions for naive… Click to show full abstract
Understanding the basis of cellular differentiation is a fundamental issue in developmental biology but also for the comprehension of pathological processes. In fact, the palette of developmental decisions for naive CD4 T cells is a critical aspect of theĀ development of appropriate immune responses which could control infectious processes or cancer growth. However, the current accumulation of data on CD4 T cells biology reveals a complex world with different helper populations. Naive CD4 T cells can differentiate into different subtypes in response to cytokine stimulation. This stimulation involves a complex transcriptional network implicating the activation of Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription but also master regulator transcription factors allowing the functions of each helper T lymphocyte subtype. In this review, we will present an overview of the transcriptional regulation which controls process of helper T cells differentiation. We will focus on the role of initiator transcriptional factors and on master regulators but also on other nonspecific transcriptional factors which refine the T helper polarization to stabilize or modulate the differentiation program.
               
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