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Gammadelta T cells: innately adaptive immune cells?

Leonardo M R Ferreira1

  • 1Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology and Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. leonardoferreira@fas.harvard.edu

International Reviews of Immunology
|April 27, 2013
PubMed

T cells employ a cell surface heterodimeric molecule, the T cell receptor (TCR), to recognize specific antigens (Ags) presented by major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules and carry out adaptive immune responses. Most T cells possess a TCR with an α and a β chain. However, a TCR constituted by a γ and a δ chain has been described, defining a novel subset of T cells. γδ TCRs specific for a wide variety of ligands, including bacterial phosphoantigens, nonclassical MHC-I molecules and unprocessed proteins, have been found, greatly expanding the horizons of T cell immune recognition. This review aims to provide background in γδ T cell history and function in mouse and man, as well as to provide a critical view of some of the latest developments on this still enigmatic class of immune cells.

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