T lymphocytes.
Int J Biochem Cell Biol
; 35(7): 1004-8, 2003 Jul.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-12672468
ABSTRACT
T cells are major players in the adaptive immune response to pathogens. They express clonally distributed, highly polymorphic antigen receptors that enable them to recognize cell-associated antigen. Upon antigen recognition, T cells undergo clonal amplification and progressively acquire effector functions, ranging from the production of paracrine soluble factors that provide "help" to other immune cells to the ability to kill pathogen-infected cells with surgical precision. A pool of antigen-reactive T cells reverts to a state of quiescence and maintains a long-lasting memory of antigen encounter. T cells develop in the thymus through a rigorous selection process that recapitulates Darwinian phylogenesis only the "fittest" survive, i.e. those that can efficiently recognize infectious non-self-antigens but ignore, or are silenced, by non-infectious self-antigens. Due to their ability to discriminate between self and non-self, T cells are the major effectors of allograft rejection. T cells are involved in the pathogenesis of several human disorders, resulting from their defective or dysregulated function. The former leads to a severe state of immunodeficiency, the latter to organ-specific or systemic autoimmunity.
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Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Linfócitos T
Limite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2003
Tipo de documento:
Article