Department of Microbiology, Institute for Immunology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Nat Immunol. 2011 Jun;12(6):492-9. doi: 10.1038/ni.2035.
T cell exhaustion is a state of T cell dysfunction that arises during many chronic infections and cancer. It is defined by poor effector function, sustained expression of inhibitory receptors and a transcriptional state distinct from that of functional effector or memory T cells. Exhaustion prevents optimal control of infection and tumors. Recently, a clearer picture of the functional and phenotypic profile of exhausted T cells has emerged and T cell exhaustion has been defined in many experimental and clinical settings. Although the pathways involved remain to be fully defined, advances in the molecular delineation of T cell exhaustion are clarifying the underlying causes of this state of differentiation and also suggest promising therapeutic opportunities.
T 细胞耗竭是 T 细胞功能障碍的一种状态，发生在许多慢性感染和癌症中。它的定义是效应功能差、持续表达抑制性受体以及与功能性效应或记忆 T 细胞不同的转录状态。耗竭会妨碍对感染和肿瘤的最佳控制。最近，人们对衰竭 T 细胞的功能和表型特征有了更清晰的认识，并在许多实验和临床环境中定义了 T 细胞耗竭。尽管涉及的途径仍有待完全确定，但在分子上对 T 细胞耗竭的描述的进展正在阐明这种分化状态的根本原因，并为治疗提供了有希望的机会。
