C.S. Hsieh, S.E. Macatonia, C.S. Tripp, S.F. Wolf, A. Ogarra, K.M. Murphy, "Development of TH1 CD4+ T cells through IL-12 produced by Listeria-induced macrophages," Science, 260:547-9, 1993. (Cited in 170 publications through December 1994)

Comments by Kenneth M. Murphy This paper describes a mechanism of T-cell development during an immune response; specifically, it deals with the role of the cytokine interleukin 12 (IL-12) in determining which form of the T-helper (TH) population will dominate during a particular immune response.

T cells are lymphocytes that regulate the nature of immune response to a foreign pathogen. There are two main subsets: TH1 cells, which are involved in developing a strong cell- mediated immune response; and TH2 cells, which promote more of an allergic type of reaction.

"Researchers had known for some time that during chronic immune responses, one type of TH response tended to dominate," recounts senior author Kenneth Murphy, an...

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