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Human peripheral CD4+ Vδ1+ γδT cells can develop into αβT cells.
- Source :
- Frontiers in Immunology; Dec2014, Vol. 5, p1-23, 23p
- Publication Year :
- 2014
-
Abstract
- The lifelong generation of αβT cells enables us to continuously build immunity against pathogens and malignancies despite the loss of thymic function with age. Homeostatic proliferation of post-thymic naïve and memory T cells and their transition into effector and long-lived memory cells balance the decreasing output of naïveT cells, and recent research suggests that also αβT-cell development independent from the thymus may occur. However, the sites and mechanisms of extrathymic T-cell development are not yet understood in detail. γδT cells represent a small fraction of the overall T-cell pool, and are endowed with tremendous phenotypic and functional plasticity. γδT cells that express the Vδ1 gene segment are a minor population in human peripheral blood but predominate in epithelial (and inflamed) tissues. Here, we characterize a CD4<superscript>+</superscript> peripheral Vδ1<superscript>+</superscript> γδT-cell subpopulation that expresses stem-cell and progenitor markers and is able to develop into functional abT cells ex vivo in a simple culture system and in vivo. The route taken by this process resembles thymic T-cell development. However, it involves the re-organization of the Vδ1<superscript>+</superscript> γδTCR into the abTCR as a consequence ofTCR-γ chain downregulation and the expression of surfaceVδ1<superscript>+</superscript>Vβ<superscript>+</superscript>TCR components, whichwe believe function as surrogate pre-TCR.This transdifferentiation process is readily detectable in vivo in inflamed tissue. Our study provides a conceptual framework for extrathymicT-cell development and opens up a new vista in immunology that requires adaptive immune responses in infection, autoimmunity, and cancer to be reconsidered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- T cells
HOMEOSTASIS
IMMUNE response
THYMUS
PROGENITOR cells
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 16643224
- Volume :
- 5
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- Frontiers in Immunology
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 101665268
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2014.00645