γδ T cells in liver diseases

Abstract

γδ T cells display unique developmental, distributional, and functional patterns and can rapidly respond to various insults and contribute to diverse diseases. Different subtypes of γδ T cells are produced in the thymus prior to their migration to peripheral tissues. γδ T cells are enriched in the liver and exhibit liver-specific features. Accumulating evidence reveals that γδ T cells play important roles in liver infection, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, autoimmune hepatitis, liver fibrosis and cirrhosis, and liver cancer and regeneration. In this study, we review the properties of hepatic γδ T cells and summarize the roles of γδ T cells in liver diseases. We believe that determining the properties and functions of γδ T cells in liver diseases enhances our understanding of the pathogenesis of liver diseases and is useful for the design of novel γδ T cell-based therapeutic regimens for liver diseases.

Keywords

γδT cells / liver infection / non-alcoholic fatty liver disease / autoimmune hepatitis / liver fibrosis and cirrhosis / liver cancer / liver regeneration

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