Peter Medawar Building for Pathogen Research , Oxford , UK.
Liver Unit, Queen Elizabeth Hospital , Birmingham , UK ; NIHR Biomedical Research Unit and Centre for Liver Research, University of Birmingham , Birmingham , UK.
Front Immunol. 2014 Aug 26;5:400. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2014.00400. eCollection 2014.
Discovered 30 years ago, gamma delta (γδ) T-lymphocytes remain an intriguing and enigmatic T-cell subset. Although in humans they comprise a small fraction of the total circulating T-lymphocyte pool, they represent an important T-cell subset in tissues such as the liver, with roles bridging the innate and adaptive immune systems. The associations of γδ T-lymphocytes with chronic liver disease have been explored - however, there remain conflicting data as to whether these T-cells are pathogenic or protective. In patients with some forms of liver disease, their expansion in the periphery and especially in the liver may indeed help pathogen clearance, while in other conditions their presence may, in contrast, contribute to disease progression. γδ T-cells can also express CD161, a C-type lectin, and such cells have been found to be involved in the pathogenesis of inflammatory disease. CD161+ T-cells of diverse subsets are known to be enriched in the livers of patients with chronic hepatitis C. This article serves to provide a review of the γδ T-cell population and its role in hepatitis C and other chronic liver diseases, and also explores a potential role of the CD161+ γδ T-cells in liver diseases.
30 年前发现的 γδ（伽马德尔塔）T 淋巴细胞仍然是一个有趣且神秘的 T 细胞亚群。虽然在人类中，它们只占总循环 T 淋巴细胞池的一小部分，但它们在肝脏等组织中代表着一个重要的 T 细胞亚群，在连接先天和适应性免疫系统方面发挥着作用。γδ T 淋巴细胞与慢性肝病的关联已经得到了探索——然而，关于这些 T 细胞是致病性的还是保护性的，仍然存在相互矛盾的数据。在某些类型的肝病患者中，它们在外周血和肝脏中的扩增确实有助于病原体的清除，而在其他情况下，它们的存在可能反而会导致疾病进展。γδ T 细胞也可以表达 CD161，一种 C 型凝集素，并且已经发现这些细胞参与了炎症性疾病的发病机制。已知各种亚群的 CD161+T 细胞在慢性丙型肝炎患者的肝脏中富集。本文旨在综述 γδ T 细胞群体及其在丙型肝炎和其他慢性肝病中的作用，并探讨 CD161+γδ T 细胞在肝脏疾病中的潜在作用。
