Significant evaluation of polyfunctional T cells / 中国免疫学杂志

ABSTRACT

During the past few years,mounting evidence has proved that the protection induced by vaccines or the prognosis of diseases is correlated with the quantity and quality of T cell responses in both mouse models and human infectious diseases.Examination of one or a few effector functions might not fully reflect the antigen-specific immunity.Recent studies demonstrated that after antigen stimulation,T cells could be induced to produce two or more effector functions simultaneously at single cell level,including cytokines,chemokines production and cytotoxic related molecules,which are named as polyfunctional T cells.Further studies indicated that these polyfunctional T cells are linked to protection from infectious diseases.Therefore,measuring multiple functions of T cells simultaneously is essential for the proper evaluation of specific immunity and may have substantial implications for the design of vaccines.