{"id":59128,"date":"2026-03-18T13:03:48","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T12:03:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inmuno.es\/index.php\/2026\/03\/18\/cxcl13-cxcr5-chemokine-axis-promotes-antiviral-cxcr5cd19-b-cells-and-follicular-effector-cxcr5cd4-t-cells-in-the-lungs-associated-with-protection-from-severe-and-fatal-covid-19-following-infection\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T13:03:48","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T12:03:48","slug":"cxcl13-cxcr5-chemokine-axis-promotes-antiviral-cxcr5cd19-b-cells-and-follicular-effector-cxcr5cd4-t-cells-in-the-lungs-associated-with-protection-from-severe-and-fatal-covid-19-following-infection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inmuno.es\/index.php\/2026\/03\/18\/cxcl13-cxcr5-chemokine-axis-promotes-antiviral-cxcr5cd19-b-cells-and-follicular-effector-cxcr5cd4-t-cells-in-the-lungs-associated-with-protection-from-severe-and-fatal-covid-19-following-infection\/","title":{"rendered":"CXCL13\/CXCR5 chemokine axis promotes antiviral CXCR5+CD19+ B Cells and follicular\/effector CXCR5+CD4+ T Cells in the lungs associated with protection from severe and fatal COVID-19 following infection with pathogenic SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

J Immunol<\/b>. 2026 Mar 17;215(3):vkag017. doi: 10.1093\/jimmun\/vkag017.<\/p>\n

ABSTRACT<\/b><\/p>\n

Chemokines play a crucial role in the lung’s immune responses to infections and diseases. The role of CXC ligand 13 (CXCL13), a chemokine produced homeostatically by various lung cell types, in protecting against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and disease remains controversial. Some studies reported that patients who survived severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) had CXCL13-dominated lung immune responses early in infection. In contrast, other studies reported that high CXCL13 levels were associated with severe COVID-19. In this study, to determine the direct role of CXCL13 in SARS-CoV-2 infection and disease, we generated CXCL13-\/-K18-hACE2 mice, that are both transgenic for ACE2 and deficient in CXCL13, and compared their infection and COVID-19-like symptoms with those in wild-type K18-hACE2 transgenic mouse littermates following intranasal inoculation with the pathogenic SARS-CoV-2 delta variant (B.1.617.2). Compared to age- and gender-matched SARS-CoV-2 infected wild-type K18-hACE2 mice, the SARS-CoV-2 infected CXCL13-\/-K18-hACE2 deficient mice exhibited (i) higher viral load in the lungs; (ii) severe COVID-19-like lung pathology; (iii) exacerbated weight loss; and (iv) increased mortality. The apparent severe COVID-19-like symptoms in CXCL13-\/-K18-hACE2 deficient mice were associated with: (i) significantly lower frequencies of functional lung-resident C-X-C chemokine receptor 5+ (CXCR5)+CD19+ B-cells, follicular CXCR5+CD4+ helper T cells (Tfh cells), and effector IFN-\u03b3+TNF-\u03b1+GzmB+Ki67+ CD4+ Th1 cells; and (ii) a significant reduction in the levels of SARS-CoV-2-Spike specific IgG1 and IgG2b antibody isotypes. These findings corroborate previous human reports suggesting a protective role for the CXCL13\/CXCR5 chemokine axis in combating SARS-CoV-2 infection and disease by promoting B cell- and T cell-mediated immunity, offering a potential new immunotherapeutic target.<\/p>\n

PMID:41847859<\/a> | DOI:10.1093\/jimmun\/vkag017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

J Immunol. 2026 Mar 17;215(3):vkag017. doi: 10.1093\/jimmun\/vkag017. ABSTRACT Chemokines play a crucial role in the lung’s immune responses to infections and diseases. The role of CXC ligand 13 (CXCL13), a chemokine produced homeostatically by various lung cell types, in protecting against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and disease remains controversial. Some studies … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,71],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-publicaciones","category-the-journal-of-immunology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmuno.es\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmuno.es\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmuno.es\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmuno.es\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmuno.es\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inmuno.es\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59128\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmuno.es\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmuno.es\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmuno.es\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}