Cutting Edge: Human Th17 Cells Are Identified as Bearing CCR2+CCR5− Phenotype

Recent reports have shown that IL-17-producing CD4+ T cells (Th17 cells) belong to a distinct helper T cell lineage and are critically involved in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases and allergies. However, the chemokine receptor profile of Th17 cells remains to be clarified. In this study, we report that human Th17 cells are identified as CCR2+CCR5- memory CD4+ T cells. Analysis of PBMC from healthy donors showed that CCR2+ cells produce much larger amounts of IL-17 than CCR2- cells, indicating the preferential expression of CCR2 on Th17 cells. Notably, CCR2+CCR5- memory CD4+ T cells produced a large amount of IL-17 and little IFN-gamma, whereas CCR2+CCR5+ cells reciprocally produced an enormous amount of IFN-gamma but little IL-17. Moreover, a higher expression of T-bet was seen in the CCR5+ memory T cells. These results indicate that absence of CCR5 distinguishes human Th17 cells from Th1 cells.