Trends in Immunology
Volume 27, Issue 3, March 2006, Pages 112-118
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γδ T cells: an alternative type of professional APC

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.it.2006.01.002Get rights and content

A subtype of activated human γδ T cells, termed Vδ2+ T cells, has antigen-presentation features similar in potency and efficacy to those seen in dendritic cells. Comparable treatment of αβ T cells does not result in ‘professional’ antigen presenting cells (APCs). What is so special about Vδ2+ T cells? How do they acquire these unexpected properties? Under what physiological conditions would such a bridge between innate and adaptive immunity come into play? In addition to discussing these questions, we introduce a model that correlates the expression of lymph node homing receptors in Vδ2+ T cells with the involvement of this alternative type of APC in anti-microbial αβ T cell responses.

Section snippets

The chemokine paradigm

Immune cells depend on stringent migration control mechanisms for carrying out their various immune functions. Leukocyte migration control is accomplished by a large array of chemokines, chemokine receptors and adhesion molecules 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Chemokines target leukocytes expressing the corresponding chemokine receptors and regulate two crucial aspects in leukocyte relocation: (i) extravasation, in which endothelia-associated chemokines induce the firm attachment of circulating leukocytes to

Antigen presentation by activated Vδ2+ T cells

A large fraction of tonsillar γδ T cells are activated and express high levels of MHC II and the CD28 ligands CD80 and CD86, a fact that prompted a detailed analysis of APC functions in peripheral blood Vδ2+ T cells [24]. These studies were greatly facilitated by the broad responses in vitro of Vδ2+ T cells to IPP, one of several microbial agents responsible for the tremendous Vδ2+ T cell expansion seen during infections 17, 18, 19, 20, 21. APC features examined include (i) the expression of

A model for Vδ2+ T-APCs

What type of physiological circumstances could account for the generation of Vδ2+ T-APCs, and how would this novel type of APC become involved in adaptive immune processes? The model we propose here relies heavily on the functional duality in DCs that distinguishes between two states of maturation.

Peripheral blood Vδ2+ T cells are characterized by an inflammatory migration profile that guides them, together with innate leukocytes, to sites of infection where recently entered pathogens are in

Open questions

Our description of professional APC function in human Vδ2+ T cells might be highly relevant to immunotherapy (Box 1). This raises numerous questions, many of which relate to past and current activities within the field of DC research.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grant 31–106583 from the Swiss National Science Foundation and grant 03.0441–2 from the Staatssekretariat für Bildung und Forschung.

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