Craig Morita'sImmunology Laboratory
Chemotaxis and tissue homing of γδ T cells
A third area of study has focused on the adhesion and chemotaxis of γδ T cells. Adhesion molecules and chemokine receptors determine the tissue homing capabilities of cells. γδ T cells show specialized homing to epithelial surfaces and are enriched in areas of inflammation. We found that human γδ T cells express ligands for E- and P-selectins, adhesion molecules that are upregulated in areas of inflammation. Now, we find that γδ T cells express chemokine receptors not expressed by ab T cells. Our present studies focus on whether these differences explain the specialized homing properties of γδ T cells.