GATA3 and systemic sclerosis: Because GATA-3 has been shown to activate both mouse [44] and human [45] IL-13 promoters, respectively, in splenic T lymphocytes and Jurkat T cells, and because TGF-β was shown to inhibit Th2 differentiation via repression of the transcription factor GATA-3 [24], we hypothesized that GATA-3 could be differentially modulated by TGF-β in PBLs from patients with SSc and healthy donors and could be responsible for the effects of TGF-β on IL-13 expression.