Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Jan;78(2):573-580.
doi: 10.1007/s00018-020-03613-9. Epub 2020 Aug 17.

Epidermal resident γδ T cell development and function in skin

Yingping Xu  1   2 , Peter Dimitrion  2   3   4 , Steven Cvetkovski  2   3   4 , Li Zhou  5   6   7   8 , Qing-Sheng Mi  9   10   11   12
Affiliations
Review

Epidermal resident γδ T cell development and function in skin

Yingping Xu et al. Cell Mol Life Sci. 2021 Jan.

Abstract

Epidermal resident γδ T cells, or dendritic epidermal T cells (DETCs) in mice, are a unique and conserved population of γδ T cells enriched in the epidermis, where they serve as the regulators of immune responses and sense skin injury. Despite the great advances in the understanding of the development, homeostasis, and function of DETCs in the past decades, the origin and the underlying molecular mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we reviewed the recent research progress on DETCs, including their origin and homeostasis in the skin, especially at transcriptional and epigenetic levels, and discuss the involvement of DETCs in skin diseases.

Keywords: Dendritic epidermal T cells (DETCs); Development; Function; Skin diseases; γδ T cells.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

No conflicts of interest for each author.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Successive waves of γδ T cell production occur over development. Two nomenclatures exist for describing these cells—Garman and Tonegawa. Made with Biorender
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Schematic of origin and function of DETCs highlighting key genes, in skin migration, development and maintenance in the epidermis. Made with Biorender
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Brenner MB, et al. Identification of a putative second T-cell receptor. Nature. 1986;322(6075):145–149. - PubMed
    1. Schmolka N, et al. Epigenetic and transcriptional regulation of gammadelta T cell differentiation: programming cells for responses in time and space. Semin Immunol. 2015;27(1):19–25. - PubMed
    1. Raulet DH. The structure, function, and molecular genetics of the gamma/delta T cell receptor. Annu Rev Immunol. 1989;7:175–207. - PubMed
    1. Vantourout P, Hayday A. Six-of-the-best: unique contributions of gammadelta T cells to immunology. Nat Rev Immunol. 2013;13(2):88–100. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wiest DL. Development of gammadelta T Cells, the special-force soldiers of the immune system. Methods Mol Biol. 2016;1323:23–32. - PubMed

MeSH terms