The shape of T cell immunity
Nature Immunology
July 22, 2013
The manner in which a sub-population of human T cell ‘see’ the world is described in a report published online in Nature Immunology this week.
Gennaro De Libero and colleagues studied Vgamma9-Vdelta2 T cells, which are a sub-population of white blood cell that can respond dramatically to certain antigens such as bacterial metabolites as well as host-derived compounds. They found that a ubiquitously expressed host molecule called Butyrophilin 3A1 can bind to and present specific stimulatory molecules to Vgamma9-Vdelta2 T cells. The authors further went on to determine the 3-dimensional structure of Butyrophilin 3A1 presenting its stimulatory cargo to Vgamma9-Vdelta2 T cells.
This study therefore identifies a new antigen-presenting molecule and the structural basis of its recognition by an important population of anti-bacterial T cell.
doi: 10.1038/ni.2665
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