T cell

T cells are a subset of lymphocytes that play a large role in the primary immune response. The abbreviation "T" stands for thymus, the organ in which their final stage of their development occurs.

There are many types of T cells:

• Cytotoxic T cells (CD8+) destroy infected cells. These cells function as 'killer' or cytotoxic cells because they are able to destroy target cells which express specific antigens that they recognize.
• Helper T cells (CD4+) are "middlemen" in the immune response and proliferate to activate many other types of cells which act more directly in the response. CD4+ T cells regulate or 'help' other lymphocyte function. They are known as the target of HIV infection, and the decrease of CD4+ T cells results in AIDS.
• Suppressor T cells turn off the immune response once an antigen has been eliminated from the body.
• Regulatory T cells help to prevent the activation of self-reactive lymphocytes that destroy the body's own cells.

Cell-mediated immunity (the immune response against pathogenic organisms inside body cells) involves T cell activation.

CD4 and CD8 refer to the characteristic antigens on the surface of the different sub-types of T-lymphocytes. These CD molecules are convenient diagnostic markers for identifying and quantitating these cells by flow cytometry using specific antibodies against them. T cell activity and secretions are frequently determined using the ELISPOT technique.

See also

• White blood cell

External links

• PLOS Primer: Antigen-Specific T Cells: Analyses of the Needles in the Haystack (http://www.plosbiology.org/plosonline/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.0000078)
• T Cell Workshop (http://www.idsoc.org/Octworkshop.html), Research by the Immunology of Diabetes Society

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