The Regulation and Role of c-FLIP in Human Th Cell Differentiation

The early differentiation of T helper (Th) cells is a tightly controlled and finely balanced process, which involves several factors including cytokines, transcription factors and co-stimulatory molecules. Recent studies have shown that in addition to the regulation of apoptosis, caspase activity is also needed for Th cell proliferation and activation and it might play a role in Th cell differentiation. The isoforms of the cellular FLICE inhibitory protein (c-FLIP) are regulators of CASPASE-8 activity and the short isoform, c-FLIP(S), has been shown to be up-regulated by IL-4, the Th2 driving cytokine. In this work, we have studied the expression and functional role of three c-FLIP isoforms during the early Th cell differentiation. Only two of the isoforms, c-FLIP(S) and c-FLIP(L), were detected at the protein level although c-FLIP(R) was expressed at the mRNA level. The knockdown of c-FLIP(L) led to enhanced Th1 differentiation and elevated IL-4 production by Th2 cells, whereas the knockdown of c-FLIP(S) diminished GATA3 expression and IL-4 production by Th2 cells. In summary, our results provide new insight into the role of c-FLIP proteins in the early differentiation of human Th cells.