Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease of the artery wall. Atherosclerotic lesions contain monocytes, macrophages, smooth muscle cells and T lymphocytes. Here, we review the role of T-lymphocyte subsets in atherosclerosis. Among CD4⁺T cells, T(h)1 cells are pro-atherogenic, T(reg) cells are athero-protective and the role of T(h)2 and T(h)17 cells remains unclear. The role of follicul...

Conventional cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) that express the CD8 co-receptor alongside their clonally distributed receptor for antigen are superbly equipped to eliminate virus-infected cells. They recognize short peptide fragments of intracellular pathogens which are brought to the surface of the infected cell in the groove of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-encoded class I molecules...

If the collaborative requirement of Lyt 1 T helper cells is bypassed by the Lyt 1 T cell-derived mediator of T help, termed Il-2, upon antigenic stimulation, PNA+ Lyt 123 thymocytes differentiate into either alloreactive or H-2-restricted PNA- Lyt 23 cytotoxic effector cells. Along the differentiation pathway from Lyt 123 leads to 23 effector cells, cytolytic activity is carried out by T cells ...

CTL are thought to play a role in the elimination of transformed cells in vivo. The effectiveness of such CTL is in part dependent on recognition of tumor specific antigens. Among the best characterized tumor-specific antigens are the unique or idiotypic determinants on the Ig of B cell lymphomas. Here we describe the generation and properties of human CTL specific for the idiotype on autologou...

Over the last 10 years, studies of T-cell-mediated responses in vitro have clearly demonstrated that some cancer patients have (mainly but not exclusively) CD8 cytolytic T-lymphocytes (CTL) that can recognize specifically autologous tumor cells [1]. Until 1991, however, no CTL-defined tumor antigen was characterized in molecular terms in humans. With the development of new approaches based on r...

BACKGROUND There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that CD8+ T lymphocytes contribute to local allergen-induced eosinophilic inflammation. Since bone marrow (BM) responses are intricately involved in the induction of airway eosinophilia, we hypothesized that CD8+ T lymphocytes, as well as CD4+ T lymphocytes, may be involved in this process. METHODS Several approaches were utilized. Fir...