The human γδ T cell is a small group of T lymphocytes carrying a distinctive γδ cell receptor, which has an enhanced antigen-presenting function after activation. With abundant experience in cell bioengineering during the past decades, Creative Biolabs has developed an advanced technology platform to provide rapid and high-quality γδ T-APC development services for clients throughout the world.
Antigen Recognition by γδ T cell
T cell receptor (TCR) expressed on the surface T lymphocyte is a protein complex that is mainly responsible for antigen recognition. Human T cells are divided into two subsets according to the peptide chains that make up TCR, one is αβ T cell with α and β chains TCR and the other is γδ T cell with γ and δ chains TCR.
Both the αβ T cell and γδ T cell can recognize a variety of antigens. Commonly αβ T cells recognize peptide antigens presented on the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) on the surface of antigen-presenting cells (APCs), among which CD4+ αβ T cells recognize peptides loaded on MHC class II molecule, whereas CD8+ αβ T cells bind to antigens on MHC class I molecule. Differently and importantly, γδ T cells can recognize a wide range of antigens in an MHC unrestricted manner without antigen processing. Activated γδ T cells can serve as a professional APC, recognizing and reacting with non-peptide antigens, soluble proteins, lipid antigens, MHC and non-MHC loaded antigens, etc.
Engineered γδ T-APC: a New Approach for γδ T Therapy
It has been demonstrated that stimulating γδ T cells with phosphoantigens led to rapid or increased expression of antigen-presenting related markers on the surface of γδ T cells, such as MHC I, MHC II, co-stimulatory molecules, and adhesion receptors.These markers endow γδ T cells with APC-like functions that directly and professionally recognize and process antigens, as well as cytotoxicity through MHC I pathway.
