IL-17A-expressing CD4(+) T cells (Th17 cells) are generally regarded as key effectors of autoimmune inflammation. However, not all Th17 cells are pro-inflammatory. Pathogenic Th17 cells that induce autoimmunity in mice are distinguished from nonpathogenic Th17 cells by a unique transcriptional signature, including high Il23r expression, and these cells require Il23r for their inflammatory function. In contrast, defining features of human pro-inflammatory Th17 cells are unknown. We show that pro-inflammatory human Th17 cells are restricted to a subset of CCR6(+)CXCR3(hi)CCR4(lo)CCR10(-)CD161(+) cells that transiently express c-Kit and stably express P-glycoprotein (P-gp)/multi-drug resistance type 1 (MDR1). In contrast to MDR1(-) Th1 or Th17 cells, MDR1(+) Th17 cells produce both Th17 (IL-17A, IL-17F, and IL-22) and Th1 (IFN-γ) cytokines upon TCR stimulation and do not express IL-10 or other anti-inflammatory molecules. These cells also display a transcriptional signature akin to pathogenic mouse Th17 cells and show heightened functional responses to IL-23 stimulation. In vivo, MDR1(+) Th17 cells are enriched and activated in the gut of Crohn's disease patients. Furthermore, MDR1(+) Th17 cells are refractory to several glucocorticoids used to treat clinical autoimmune disease. Thus, MDR1(+) Th17 cells may be important mediators of chronic inflammation, particularly in clinical settings of steroid resistant inflammatory disease.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 67. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 01 September 2026.
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Outputs from The Journal of Experimental Medicine
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#3
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Altmetric has tracked 34,447,360 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 97th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 13,372 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 14.3. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 96% of its peers.
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