Differentiation and activation of γδ T Lymphocytes: Focus on CD27 and CD28 costimulatory receptors

Julie C Ribot1, Bruno Silva-Santos

  • 1Molecular Immunology Unit, Faculdade de Medicinal, Institutor de Medicinal Molecular, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal. julie.ribot@gmail.com

γδ T lymphocytes are major providers of the pro-inflammatory cytokines interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and interleukin-17 (IL-17) at early stages of (auto)immune responses. We and others have recently described the phenotype and differentiation requirements of two distinct murine γδ T cell subsets producing either IFN-γ or IL-17. Here we summarize our current understanding of the molecular mechanisms that control γδ T cell differentiation, which is programmed in the thymus, and peripheral activation upon infection. We focus on the costimulatory receptors CD27 and CD28, which play independent and non-redundant roles in the physiology of γδ T cells in mice and in humans.

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