Abstract
γδ T cells are a distinct subset of T cells whose T cell receptors consist of γ chains and δ chains, different from conventional αβ T cells. γδ T cells are considered as a member of the innate immunity because of their non-MHC restricted antigen recognition, rapid response to invading pathogens and sense early changes of malignant cells. Upon activation, they can further promote the activation of adaptive immune cells, such as T cells and B cells, by secreting various cytokines. Thus, γδ T cells are regarded as a bridge between innate immunity and acquired immunity. γδ T cells are involved in a variety of immune response processes, including immune defense and immune surveillance against infection and tumorigenesis. γδ T cells recognize multiple tumor-associated antigens or molecules in T cell receptors (TCRs)-dependent and natural killer cell receptors (NKRs)-dependent ways. γδ T cells not only display a direct killing capacity on a variety of tumors, but also exert anti-tumor immune responses indirectly by facilitating the function of other immune cells, such as dendritic cells (DCs), B cells and CD8+ T cells. In this review, we summarize the major subpopulations, the tumor recognition mechanisms, and the anti-tumor effects of human γδ T cells, particularly the potential of γδ T cells for cancer immunotherapy.
Highlights
Human γδ T cells are unique innate immune cells, accounting for 1–5% of lymphocytes in peripheral blood. They mainly distribute in the gut mucosa, skin and other mucosal tissues and participate in a variety of immune response and immune regulation processes, such as mediating immune inflammatory response, directly recognizing and killing tumors [1,2]. γδ T cells have gained more attention because they can quickly generate immune responses to a variety of invading pathogens and early changes of malignancy, which is likely to relate to non-MHC restricted antigen recognition, thereby, γδ T cells, together with macrophages and neutrophils, contribute to the first line of defense against foreign infections [2,3]
We summarize the major characteristics of human γδ T cells, tumor cell recognition by γδ T cells, the anti-tumor mechanism of γδ T cells as well as their application and some new strategies of γδ T cells for cancer immunotherapy
Human γδ T cells can be divided into a variety of subsets based on their T cell receptors (TCRs) usage, cellular phenotype and function [11,14]. (I) γδ T cell subsets classified according to the usage of TCRγ-chain or δ-chain
Summary
Human γδ T cells are unique innate immune cells, accounting for 1–5% of lymphocytes in peripheral blood They mainly distribute in the gut mucosa, skin and other mucosal tissues and participate in a variety of immune response and immune regulation processes, such as mediating immune inflammatory response, directly recognizing and killing tumors [1,2]. Γδ T cells have gained more attention because they can quickly generate immune responses to a variety of invading pathogens and early changes of malignancy, which is likely to relate to non-MHC restricted antigen recognition, thereby, γδ T cells, together with macrophages and neutrophils, contribute to the first line of defense against foreign infections [2,3]. We summarize the major characteristics of human γδ T cells, tumor cell recognition by γδ T cells, the anti-tumor mechanism of γδ T cells as well as their application and some new strategies of γδ T cells for cancer immunotherapy
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