Lipids and lymphocyte function

Lipids have a variety of important biological functions, serving as storage and transport forms of metabolic fuel, as structural membrane components, and as cell-surface components conferring, for example, tissue and species specificity. Not surprisingly, because the immune system functions through a complex series of stimulatory and regulatory interactions, there has been speculation about the role of lipids as lymphocyte membrane components. Here Kay Traill and George Wick discuss recent research on the possible influence of lipids on receptor binding, signal transmission and the stimulation of lymphocytes to effector function.