Growth factor VEGF-B sustains intestinal Tfh cell stemness to restrict Taurinivorans outgrowth and microbiota-driven obesity.

Conditional deletion of Flt1 (VEGFR-1) in T cells in mice causes age-associated obesity linked to reduced VEGFR-1+ Tfh fitness, lower gut secretory IgA, and Taurinivorans overgrowth.

• Why it matters: The study addresses how TCR-driven autocrine VEGFR-1 signaling shapes Tfh maintenance and gut microbial balance, and how that balance can influence microbiota-driven metabolic disease.
• What they did: Mice with conditional Flt1 deletion in T cells were analyzed across lymphoid and metabolic tissues, identifying VEGFR-1+ Tfh in Peyer’s patches and mesenteric lymph nodes, with downstream effects on IgA and Taurinivorans.
• The result: VEGFR-1–AKT signaling sustained Tfh stemness by limiting p53-mediated senescence, and this Tfh–microbiota–obesity pathway was observed in diet-induced obese mice and in humans; oral IgA reduced Taurinivorans and alleviated adiposity.

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