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Updated: May 16, 2026

Imaging CD4 T Cell Interstitial Migration in the Inflamed Dermis
Published on: March 25, 2016
The dynamic lives of T cells: new approaches and themes
Yvonne J Yamanaka1, Todd M Gierahn, J Christopher Love
1Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Abstract:
Activated T cells have classically been thought to progress unidirectionally through discrete phenotypic states and differentiate into static lineages. It is increasingly evident, however, that T cells exhibit much more complex and flexible dynamic behaviors than initially appreciated, and that these behaviors influence the efficacy of T cell responses to immunological challenges. In this review, we discuss how new technologies for monitoring the dynamics of T cells are enhancing the resolution of the fine phenotypic and functional heterogeneity within populations of T cells and revealing how individual T cells transition among a continuum of states. Such insights into the dynamic properties of T cells should improve immune monitoring and inform strategies for therapeutic interventions.
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