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T-cell and B-cell Immunology
Research Guide
What is T-cell and B-cell Immunology?
T-cell and B-cell immunology is the study of the development, differentiation, activation, and functional interactions of T lymphocytes and B lymphocytes in adaptive immune responses.
The field encompasses 118,828 works with analysis of T cell subsets like TH1 and TH2 distinguished by lymphokine secretion patterns, as shown in "Two types of murine helper T cell clone. I. Definition according to profiles of lymphokine activities and secreted proteins." (Mosmann et al., 1986). Key advances include the role of Foxp3 in programming regulatory T cell development, detailed in "Foxp3 programs the development and function of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells" (Fontenot et al., 2003). Single-cell techniques have enabled integrated multimodal data analysis for T and B cell states, as in "Integrated analysis of multimodal single-cell data" (Hao et al., 2021).
Research Sub-Topics
Regulatory T Cell Development
This sub-topic investigates the molecular pathways, including Foxp3 expression, controlling the differentiation and stability of regulatory T cells. Researchers study thymic and peripheral induction mechanisms.
TH1 TH2 Differentiation
This sub-topic elucidates cytokine-driven polarization of naive CD4+ T cells into TH1 and TH2 effector subsets with distinct immune functions. Researchers map transcription factor networks and plasticity.
TH17 Cell Pathogenesis
This sub-topic explores the developmental origins, plasticity, and pro-inflammatory roles of TH17 cells in autoimmune diseases. Researchers focus on cytokine regulation and Treg-TH17 balance.
Lymphocyte Homing and Trafficking
This sub-topic dissects the multistep adhesion cascade and chemokine signals directing T and B cell migration to lymphoid organs and inflamed tissues. Researchers identify selectins, integrins, and chemokines.
Interleukin-10 Immunoregulation
This sub-topic characterizes IL-10 signaling, receptor biology, and suppressive functions in T cells, B cells, and macrophages. Researchers examine its role in tolerance and chronic infections.
Why It Matters
T-cell and B-cell immunology underpins therapies targeting immune dysregulation in cancer and autoimmunity. For instance, BCMA-directed mRNA CAR-T cell therapy showed exploratory biomarker analysis in a placebo-controlled phase 2b trial for myasthenia gravis, demonstrating potential to reset the immune system. TRexBio's $50 million financing supports TRB-061, a TNFR2 agonist that selectively activates regulatory T cells for inflammatory diseases in skin and barrier tissues. Tools like scirpy enable single-cell TCR and BCR repertoire analysis from scRNA-seq data, while recent preprints explore cis- and trans-binding chimeric costimulatory receptors to enhance T-cell fitness and tumor control.
Reading Guide
Where to Start
"TH1 and TH2 Cells: Different Patterns of Lymphokine Secretion Lead to Different Functional Properties" (Mosmann and Coffman, 1989) because it provides a foundational distinction of T helper cell subsets by cytokine profiles, essential for understanding T-B cell interactions.
Key Papers Explained
"Two types of murine helper T cell clone. I. Definition according to profiles of lymphokine activities and secreted proteins." (Mosmann et al., 1986) defined TH1/TH2 via lymphokines, built upon by "TH1 and TH2 Cells: Different Patterns of Lymphokine Secretion Lead to Different Functional Properties" (Mosmann and Coffman, 1989) for functional properties. "Foxp3 programs the development and function of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells" (Fontenot et al., 2003) and "Control of Regulatory T Cell Development by the Transcription Factor Foxp3" (Hori et al., 2003) independently established Foxp3's role in Tregs. "Integrated analysis of multimodal single-cell data" (Hao et al., 2021) integrates these with B cell analysis via single-cell methods.
Paper Timeline
Most-cited paper highlighted in red. Papers ordered chronologically.
Advanced Directions
Preprints highlight chimeric costimulatory receptors enhancing T-cell tumor control (Hernández-López et al.) and tumor exosomes promoting T-cell dysfunction (Huang et al.). CAR-T therapies target BCMA for myasthenia gravis, with TRexBio advancing TNFR2 agonists for Tregs in inflammatory diseases.
Papers at a Glance
| # | Paper | Year | Venue | Citations | Open Access |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Integrated analysis of multimodal single-cell data | 2021 | Cell | 14.5K | ✓ |
| 2 | Dendritic cells and the control of immunity | 1998 | Nature | 14.2K | ✕ |
| 3 | Simple Combinations of Lineage-Determining Transcription Facto... | 2010 | Molecular Cell | 13.9K | ✓ |
| 4 | Control of Regulatory T Cell Development by the Transcription ... | 2003 | Science | 8.0K | ✕ |
| 5 | TH1 and TH2 Cells: Different Patterns of Lymphokine Secretion ... | 1989 | Annual Review of Immun... | 7.6K | ✕ |
| 6 | Foxp3 programs the development and function of CD4+CD25+ regul... | 2003 | Nature Immunology | 7.6K | ✕ |
| 7 | Two types of murine helper T cell clone. I. Definition accordi... | 1986 | The Journal of Immunology | 7.5K | ✕ |
| 8 | Traffic signals for lymphocyte recirculation and leukocyte emi... | 1994 | Cell | 7.0K | ✕ |
| 9 | Reciprocal developmental pathways for the generation of pathog... | 2006 | Nature | 6.8K | ✕ |
| 10 | Interleukin-10 and the Interleukin-10 Receptor | 2001 | Annual Review of Immun... | 6.6K | ✕ |
In the News
TRexBio Closes $50 Million Financing to Support a ...
* *Proceeds support the continued clinical development of TRB-061, a novel TNFR2 agonist designed to selectively activate regulatory T cells (“Tregs”) in inflammatory diseases affecting skin and ot...
BCMA-directed mRNA CAR-T cell therapy for myasthenia gravis: exploratory biomarker analysis of a placebo-controlled phase 2b trial
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapies have the potential to transform treatment of autoimmune disease by resetting the immune system. However, adoption of cell therapies in the autoimmun...
Scientists create tumor immune hubs to stop cancer growth ...
The research, backed by the National Cancer Institute and other federal programs, is still in its early stages. It has so far only been tested on mice, but the researchers are optimistic. STING act...
Hashem Koohy receives Wellcome Discovery Award to ...
Hashem Koohy, Associate Professor of Systems Immunology, has been awarded funding from Wellcome to develop computational strategies to decipher the underlying rules of adaptive T cell immunity.
Engineering B cells to treat and study human disease
045. Wennhold, K. et al. Using antigen-specific B cells to combine antibody and T cell-based cancer immunotherapy. _Cancer Immunol. Res._ **5**, 730–743 (2017). CAS Google Scholar
Code & Tools
View all files | ## Repository files navigation # immApex API for single-cell immune repertoire deep learning models
## Repository files navigation # TCR-Embeddings This repository aims to provide a framework for evaluating TCR Embeddings' expressivity with aim ...
Scirpy is a package to analyse T cell receptor (TCR) or B cell receptor (BCR) repertoires from single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data in Python.
The Immcantation framework is a start-to-finish pipeline going from raw reads to repertoire analysis. It encompasses pre-processing of fastq files,...
scRepertoire is compatible and integrated with the R packages Trex for deep-learning-based autoencoding of the T cell receptor and Ibex for the B c...
Recent Preprints
Research articles | Cellular & Molecular Immunology
- ### Cis- and trans-binding chimeric costimulatory receptors enhance T-cell fitness and tumor control - Patricia Hernández-López - Caterina Riillo - Dennis X. Beringer Article10 Dec 2025 - #...
Science Immunology | AAAS
publishes original, peer-reviewed, science-based research articles that report critical advances in all areas of immunological research, including important new tools and techniques. mission & sco...
B cells articles from across Nature Portfolio
B cells are a subtype of lymphocyte. They form part of the adaptive immune response and mediate humoral immunity. B cells can produce high-affinity antibodies and generate immunological memory. ## ...
Lymphocytes articles from across Nature Portfolio
Lymphocytes are white blood cells that have important immune functions. The main populations of lymphocytes are B cells, T cells and natural killer (NK) cells. They are typically (although not excl...
Lymphocyte differentiation articles from across Nature Portfolio
Definition Lymphocyte differentiation is a process in which activated B cells or T cells become specialized immune cells. For example, B cells can give rise to antibody-producing cells and T cells ...
Latest Developments
Recent developments in T-cell and B-cell immunology research include the upcoming Keystone Symposia on B and T cell collaboration in microenvironments in March 2026 (keystonesymposia.org), the discovery that IgG1 plasma cells can predict responses to cancer immunotherapy (Mount Sinai), and advances in understanding T cell subsets and activation states through single-cell annotation studies (Nature, Nature). Additionally, research on T cell engineering strategies, such as BACH2 regulation to enhance CAR T cell function, is ongoing (Nature Immunology).
Sources
Frequently Asked Questions
What role does Foxp3 play in T cell development?
Foxp3 encodes a transcription factor essential for the development and function of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells, which maintain self-tolerance by suppressing self-reactive lymphocytes. "Foxp3 programs the development and function of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells" (Fontenot et al., 2003) showed that Foxp3 expression programs these cells. Defects in Foxp3 lead to impaired regulatory T cell function.
How are TH1 and TH2 cells defined?
TH1 cells produce IL-2, interferon-gamma, GM-CSF, and IL-3, while TH2 cells have different lymphokine profiles, leading to distinct functional properties. "Two types of murine helper T cell clone. I. Definition according to profiles of lymphokine activities and secreted proteins." (Mosmann et al., 1986) first defined these based on antigen-stimulated clones. "TH1 and TH2 Cells: Different Patterns of Lymphokine Secretion Lead to Different Functional Properties" (Mosmann and Coffman, 1989) expanded on their divergent roles.
What is the function of IL-10 in T and B cell responses?
IL-10 inhibits T cell, monocyte, and macrophage activation while limiting excessive immune responses across hemopoietic cells. "Interleukin-10 and the Interleukin-10 Receptor" (Moore et al., 2001) describes its role in terminating inflammatory responses. It acts via the IL-10 receptor to regulate adaptive immunity involving T and B cells.
How do single-cell methods advance T and B cell analysis?
Integrated analysis of multimodal single-cell data reveals T and B cell states and interactions. "Integrated analysis of multimodal single-cell data" (Hao et al., 2021) provides tools for this, cited 14,517 times. It supports repertoire analysis with packages like scirpy for TCR and BCR from scRNA-seq.
What controls regulatory T cell development?
The transcription factor Foxp3 controls regulatory T cell development by actively suppressing self-reactive lymphocytes for self-tolerance. "Control of Regulatory T Cell Development by the Transcription Factor Foxp3" (Hori et al., 2003) demonstrated this mechanism. It is genetically defective in conditions lacking functional regulatory T cells.
Open Research Questions
- ? How do cis- and trans-binding chimeric costimulatory receptors specifically enhance T-cell fitness against tumors?
- ? What mechanisms underlie PA28γ-containing tumor-derived exosomes in promoting T-cell dysfunction in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma?
- ? How can computational strategies fully decipher rules of adaptive T cell immunity in lymphocyte differentiation?
- ? What are the precise pathways for engineering antigen-specific B cells to combine antibody and T cell-based cancer immunotherapy?
- ? How do TNFR2 agonists like TRB-061 selectively activate regulatory T cells in barrier tissues without off-target effects?
Recent Trends
Recent preprints focus on chimeric costimulatory receptors for T-cell fitness ("Cis- and trans-binding chimeric costimulatory receptors enhance T-cell fitness and tumor control", Hernández-López et al., Dec 2025) and tumor exosomes inducing T-cell dysfunction (Huang et al., Jan 2026).
News covers $50M for TRB-061 TNFR2 agonist targeting Tregs and BCMA CAR-T phase 2b for myasthenia gravis.
Tools like scirpy and immApex advance single-cell TCR/BCR analysis amid 118,828 works.
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