Taurine: energy drink for T cells |
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Authors: | Bachmann Martin F |
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Affiliation: | Department of Dermatology, Zurich University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland. martin.bachmann@me.com |
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Abstract: | The activation of T cells causes many cellular changes, including alterations in cell morphology, motility, and size. While all immunologists know that T cells increase their size and become "blasted" upon activation, little attention has been paid to the question of how cell size is regulated and how this process influences T-cell responses. In this issue of the European Journal of Immunology, Kaesler et al. [Eur. J. Immunol. 2012. 42: 831-841] demonstrate that the organic osmolyte taurine and its transporter Taut are instrumental in driving cell-volume regulation and therefore the T-cell response. In the absence of Taut, effector and memory T-cell responses in mice are severely impaired, mainly due to increased apoptosis of effector cells. Hence, this paper provides an important link between the regulation of cell size and effector T-cell responses. |
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Keywords: | T cells CD4+ T cells CD8+ T cells Cellular activation |
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