Fig. 5

Induction of pathogenic Th2 cells during acute asthma. a Heterogeneity of Th2 cells during asthma. Representative density plots of Th2 (CCR6⁻CCR4⁺) subsets identified by the differential expression of CD161 and CRTH2 in healthy donors (n = 25), acute (n = 8) and stable (n = 8) asthma patients. Th2 populations from acute asthma patients were overlaid on the histograms in order to compare the relative expression of CD49d, CD27, and GATA-3. b Increase of non-classical Th2 cells during asthma. Frequencies of Th2 subsets were assessed in frozen PBMCs from healthy donors and acute or stable asthma patients. c Phenotype of pathogenic Th2 cells during Asthma. Median fluorescent intensity of surface and intra-cellular markers was compared between gated Th2 subsets in all donors. d Increased effector function of non-classical Th2 cells during asthma. Th2 subsets and Th17 cells were sorted and polyclonally stimulated with PMA/ Ionomycin. Supernatants were collected and analyzed by luminex to detect cytokine secretion. e Expression of the transcription factor PPARγ in pathogenic Th2 cells. Sorted T cells were lysed after stimulation. The levels of mRNA PPARγ isoforms were analyzed by RT-PCR in classical or pathogenic Th2 and Th17 CD4 cells