Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 2, 2026

Dissecting Innate Immune Signaling in Viral Evasion of Cytokine Production
Published on: March 2, 2014
MICA engagement by human Vgamma2Vdelta2 T cells enhances their antigen-dependent effector function
1Lymphocyte Biology Section, Division of Rheumatology, Immunology, and Allergy, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Abstract:
Vgamma2Vdelta2 T cells comprise 2%-5% of human peripheral blood T cells, recognize ubiquitous nonpeptide antigens, and expand up to 50-fold during microbial infection. It is not clear why these Vgamma2Vdelta2 T cells expand only after microbial infection. We show here that the stress-inducible molecule, MICA, is induced on the surface of dendritic and epithelial cells by infection with M. tuberculosis in vitro and in vivo. MICA engagement by the activating receptor, NKG2D, present on Vgamma2Vdelta2 T cells, resulted in a substantial enhancement of the TCR-dependent Vgamma2Vdelta2 T cell response to nonpeptide antigens and protein superantigens alike. Thus, a MICA-NKG2D interaction may be necessary for an effective innate immune response to microbe-associated antigens that also are constitutively present in vivo.
Related Concept Videos
Antigens Involved in Adaptive Immunity
Complete Antigens
Complete antigens possess both immunogenicity and reactivity.
Antigen Presenting Cells
T cells require the help of antigen-presenting cells (APCs), which process foreign antigens into smaller fragments that can be recognized by T cells. These APCs are highly specialized cells that efficiently internalize antigens...
T Cell Activation and Clonal Selection
Naive T cells that have not yet encountered an antigen express two primary CD...
Cytotoxic T Cells-mediated Immune Response
Immunological surveillance is the ability of immune cells to monitor and eliminate infected cells with intracellular pathogens, neoplastically transformed cells, and cells with non-self antigens. Cytotoxic T cells and NK...
B Cell Activation and Differentiation
When naive B cells encounter a specific antigen that can bind to the B cell receptor (BCR) on their surface, they undergo sensitization to respond to the antigen's presence. Sensitization begins with...
Immune Response Against Viral Pathogens
NK Cells
NK cells are a crucial part of our innate immune system, acting as the first line of defense against viral infections. These cells can recognize and kill infected cells without prior exposure to the virus, effectively slowing down the spread of infection. Additionally, NK cells produce proinflammatory...

