title: gamma/delta and other unconventional T lymphocytes: what do they see and what do they do?
abstract: T lymphocytes recognize specific ligands by clonally distributed T-cell receptors (TCR). In humans and most animals, the vast majority of T cells express a TCR composed of an alpha chain and a beta chain, whereas a minor T-cell population is characterized by the TCR gamma/delta. Almost all of our knowledge about T cells stems from alpha/beta T cells and only now are we beginning to understand gamma/delta T cells. In contrast to conventional alpha/beta T cells, which are specific for antigenic peptides presented by gene products of the major histocompatibility complex, gamma/delta T cells directly recognize proteins and even nonproteinacious phospholigands. These findings reveal that gamma/delta T cells and alpha/beta T cells recognize antigen in a fundamentally different way and hence mitigate the dogma of exclusive peptide-major histocompatibility complex recognition by T cells. A role for gamma/delta T cells in antimicrobial immunity has been firmly established. Although some gamma/delta T cells perform effector functions, regulation of the professional and the nonprofessional immune system seems to be of at least equal importance. The prominent residence of gamma/delta T cells in epithelial tissues and the rapid mobilization of gamma/delta T cells in response to infection are consistent with such regulatory activities under physiological and pathologic conditions. Thus, although gamma/delta T cells are a minor fraction of all T cells, they are not just uninfluential kin of alpha/beta T cells but have their unique raison d'être.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, University of Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kaufmann
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000941:Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000276:immunology; D015329:Gene Rearrangement, T-Lymphocyte; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta / Q000502:physiology; D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta / Q000502:physiology*; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology*; D014612:Vaccines / Q000276:immunology; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000941:Antigens; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta; D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta; D014612:Vaccines