Human γδ T Cells: A Lymphoid Lineage Cell Capable of Professional Phagocytosis

作者：Yin Wu, Wutian Wu, Wai Man Wong, Eliot Ward, Adrian James Thrasher, David Goldblatt, Mohamed Osman, Paul Digard, David H. Canaday, Kenth Gustafsson · 发表于：The Journal of Immunology · 年份：2009 · DOI：10.4049/jimmunol.0901772 · 被引用次数：157 · 研究领域：Immune Cell Function and Interaction、T-cell and B-cell Immunology、Immunotherapy and Immune Responses

Professional phagocytosis in mammals is considered to be performed exclusively by myeloid cell types. In this study, we demonstrate, for the first time, that a mammalian lymphocyte subset can operate as a professional phagocyte. By using confocal microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and functional Ag presentation assays, we find that freshly isolated human peripheral blood gammadelta T cells can phagocytose Escherichia coli and 1 microm synthetic beads via Ab opsonization and CD16 (FcgammaRIII), leading to Ag processing and presentation on MHC class II. In contrast, other CD16(+) lymphocytes, i.e., CD16(+)/CD56(+) NK cells, were not capable of such functions. These findings of distinct myeloid characteristics in gammadelta T cells strongly support the suggestion that gammadelta T cells are evolutionarily ancient lymphocytes and have implications for our understanding of their role in transitional immunity and the control of infectious diseases and cancer.