Adams EJ, Gu S, Luoma AM. Human gamma delta T cells: Evolution and ligand recognition.
Cell Immunol 2015;
296:31-40. [PMID:
25991474 DOI:
10.1016/j.cellimm.2015.04.008]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 151] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2015] [Revised: 04/19/2015] [Accepted: 04/24/2015] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
The γδ T cell lineage in humans remains much of an enigma due to the low number of defined antigens, the non-canonical ways in which these cells respond to their environment and difficulty in tracking this population in vivo. In this review, we survey a comparative evolutionary analysis of the primate V, D and J gene segments and contrast these findings with recent progress in defining antigen recognition by different populations of γδ T cells in humans. Signatures of both purifying and diversifying selection at the Vδ and Vγ gene loci are placed into context of Vδ1+ γδ T cell recognition of CD1d presenting different lipids, and Vγ 9Vδ2 T cell modulation by pyrophosphate-based phosphoantigens through the butyrophilins BTN3A. From this comparison, it is clear that co-evolution between γδ TCRs and these ligands is likely occurring, but the diversity inherent in these recombined receptors is an important feature in ligand surveillance.
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