Infection and Immunity Research Institute, St. George's University of London, London, United Kingdom.
Front Immunol. 2021 Mar 29;12:666983. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.666983. eCollection 2021.
The emergence of viruses with pandemic potential such as the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus causing COVID-19 poses a global health challenge. There is remarkable progress in vaccine technology in response to this threat, but their design often overlooks the innate arm of immunity. Gamma Delta (γδ) T cells are a subset of T cells with unique features that gives them a key role in the innate immune response to a variety of homeostatic alterations, from cancer to microbial infections. In the context of viral infection, a growing body of evidence shows that γδ T cells are particularly equipped for early virus detection, which triggers their subsequent activation, expansion and the fast deployment of antiviral functions such as direct cytotoxic pathways, secretion of cytokines, recruitment and activation of other immune cells and mobilization of a trained immunity memory program. As such, γδ T cells represent an attractive target to stimulate for a rapid and effective resolution of viral infections. Here, we review the known aspects of γδ T cells that make them crucial component of the immune response to viruses, and the ways that their antiviral potential can be harnessed to prevent or treat viral infection.
具有大流行潜力的病毒的出现，如导致 COVID-19 的 SARS-CoV-2 冠状病毒，对全球健康构成了挑战。针对这一威胁，疫苗技术取得了显著进展，但它们的设计往往忽略了先天免疫的作用。γδ（γδ）T 细胞是 T 细胞的一个亚群，具有独特的特征，使它们在各种稳态改变（从癌症到微生物感染）的先天免疫反应中发挥关键作用。在病毒感染的背景下，越来越多的证据表明，γδ T 细胞特别适合早期检测病毒，这触发了它们随后的激活、扩增以及抗病毒功能的快速部署，如直接细胞毒性途径、细胞因子的分泌、招募和激活其他免疫细胞以及动员训练有素的免疫记忆程序。因此，γδ T 细胞是刺激快速有效解决病毒感染的有吸引力的目标。在这里，我们回顾了 γδ T 细胞的已知方面，这些方面使它们成为对病毒免疫反应的关键组成部分，以及利用它们的抗病毒潜力来预防或治疗病毒感染的方法。
