title: Roles of γδ T cells in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases.
abstract: γδ T cells are a minor population of T cells that express the TCR γδ chains, mainly distributed in the mucosal and epithelial tissue and accounting for less than 5% of the total T cells in the peripheral blood. By bridging innate and adaptive immunity, γδ T cells play important roles in the anti-infection, antitumor, and autoimmune responses. Previous research on γδ T cells was primarily concentrated on infectious diseases and tumors, whereas their functions in autoimmune diseases attracted much attention. In this paper, we summarized the various functions of γδ T cells in two prototypical autoimmune connective tissue diseases, that is, SLE and RA, elaborating on their antigen-presenting capacity, secretion of proinflammatory cytokines, immunomodulatory effects, and auxiliary function for B cells, which contribute to overproduction of proinflammatory cytokines and pathogenic autoantibodies, ultimately leading to the onset of these autoimmune diseases. Elucidation of the roles of γδ T cells in autoimmune diseases is not only conducive to in-depth understanding of the pathogenesis of these diseases, but also beneficial in providing theoretical support for the development of γδ T-cell-targeted therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology and Rheumatology, The Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing 210008, China.
authors.forename: Dinglei
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: Minning
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Xia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Lingyun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D056704:Adaptive Immunity; D000818:Animals; D017951:Antigen Presentation; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000276:immunology*; D002450:Cell Communication; D016207:Cytokines / Q000276:immunology; D004848:Epithelium / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D018928:Immunity, Mucosal; D056747:Immunomodulation; D018836:Inflammation Mediators / Q000276:immunology; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000276:immunology*; D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta / Q000276:immunology*; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D018836:Inflammation Mediators; D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta