Understanding Immune Cells
What type of cell is a T Cell?
A T cell is a type of lymphocyte - white blood cell
What do T Cells do?
T cells are one of the important white blood cells of the immune system and play a central role in the adaptive immune response. T cells can be distinguished from other lymphocytes by the presence of a T-cell receptor on their cell surface.
Where are T Cells found?
T cells are develop from stem cells in the bone marrow. These T cells then migrate to the thymus to mature, hence the name of T Cell.
After migration to the thymus, the precursor cells mature into several distinct types of T cells. T cell differentiation also continues after they have left the thymus.
Specific and differentiated T cell types play a whole host of functions in the immune response.
T Cells are also characterised by receptors and molecules called CD molecules on the cell surface - Cluster of Differentiation and these are expressed on a variety of immune system cells.
How are T Cells classified?
Current T Cell types of interest are therefore and broadly classified into 3 categories of regulatory, cytotoxic and helper T cell function
- Th17 Cells - Helper T Cells
- Th1 Cells - Helper T Cells
- Th2 Cells - Helper T Cells
- Th0 Cells - Naive T Cells
- TReg Cells - Regulatory T Cells
- Tc Cells - Cytotoxic T Cells
