Loss of TCR responsiveness during thymic education imprints the ‘innate’ signature on γδ T cells

摘要

Tcells expressing γδ determinants are considered innate-like and deviate from the classical αβ T cells in many aspects,including the rapid production of lymphokines following the recognition of 'naked' antigens by the invariant T-cell receptor and failure to differentiate in the periphery.The details of thymic maturation in these atypical T cells have remained unclear.Recently,Wencker et al.demonstrated that during thymic education,γδ T cells acquire innate-like characteristics following the attrition of T-cell receptor (TCR)-mediated signaling.1 This previously unrecognized attribute could serve as a criterion for the subdivision of mature γδ T cells into subtypes.