The Emerging Complexity of ??T17 Cells #MMPMID29731754
McKenzie DR; Comerford I; Silva-Santos B; McColl SR
Front Immunol 2018[]; 9 (ä): ä PMID29731754show ga
Preprogrammed IL-17-producing ?? T cells constitute a poorly understood class of lymphocytes that express rearranged antigen receptors but appear to make little use of them. ??T17 cells were first characterized as tissue-resident sentinels with innate effector function. However, ongoing research continues to reveal unexpected complexity to this unusual subset, including phenotypic plasticity, memory-like activity and unique migratory behavior. Despite these advances, at the core of ??T17 cell biology remain fundamental gaps in knowledge: Are ??T17 cells truly innate or has the importance of the T cell receptor been overlooked? How unique are they among IL-17-producing lymphocytes? How similar are these cells between mice and humans? We speculate that answering these unresolved questions is key to successful manipulation of ?? T cells in clinical settings.