- Wu, Cheng-Jang;
- Cho, Sunglim;
- Huang, Hsi-Yuan;
- Lu, Chun-Hao;
- Russ, Jasmin;
- Cruz, Leilani;
- da Cunha, Flavia;
- Chen, Mei-Chi;
- Lin, Ling-Li;
- Warner, Lindsey;
- Liao, Hsin-Kai;
- Utzschneider, Daniel;
- Quon, Sara;
- Berner, Jacqueline;
- Camara, Niels;
- Zehn, Dietmar;
- Belmonte, Juan;
- Chen, Li-Chen;
- Huang, Shiang-Fu;
- Kuo, Ming-Ling;
- Lu, Li-Fan
Follicular helper T (TFH) cells are essential for generating protective humoral immunity. To date, microRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as important players in regulating TFH cell biology. Here, we show that loss of miR-23~27~24 clusters in T cells resulted in elevated TFH cell frequencies upon different immune challenges, whereas overexpression of this miRNA family led to reduced TFH cell responses. Mechanistically, miR-23~27~24 clusters coordinately control TFH cells through targeting a network of genes that are crucial for TFH cell biology. Among them, thymocyte selection-associated HMG-box protein (TOX) was identified as a central transcription regulator in TFH cell development. TOX is highly up-regulated in both mouse and human TFH cells in a BCL6-dependent manner. In turn, TOX promotes the expression of multiple molecules that play critical roles in TFH cell differentiation and function. Collectively, our results establish a key miRNA regulon that maintains optimal TFH cell responses for resultant humoral immunity.