A numerically small subset of T-cells expresses the gd T-cell receptor instead of the conventional ab T-cell receptor. Human gd T cells recognize phosphorylated metabolites (“phosphoantigens”) produced by bacteria and parasites. Similar but less active phosphoantigens are produced by eukaryotic cells but overproduced by transformed cells. This explains why the very same subset of human gd T-cells is involved in anti-infective and anti-tumor immunity. I will discuss current strategies to explore the immunotherapeutic potential of gd T-cells and proteomic approaches to characterize secretory lysosomes in T-cells.
Dieter Kabelitz studied medicine. He was post-doc in Uppsala and New York and he did his habilitation at the University of Ulm in 1985. Dieter Kabelitz worked as professor in Heidelberg from 1988 to 1992. Afterwards he was the head of the Department of Immunology at the Paul-Ehrlich Institute. Since 1999 he is professor at the Department of Immunology at the University of Kiel. Dieter Kabelitz was awarded an Alfried-Krupp sponsorship in 1989 and he is president of the German Society for Immunology since December 2011.
Moderation: Professor Dr. Barbara Bröker