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REVIEW article

Front. Immunol.
Sec. T Cell Biology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1465889

Mechanisms governing bystander activation of T cells

Provisionally accepted
Mohammed Y. Mohammed Mohammed Y. Mohammed 1Mohamed Dokhan Mohamed Dokhan 2Mouhamad Al Moussawy Mouhamad Al Moussawy 3*Hossam Abdelsamed Hossam Abdelsamed 4*
  • 1 The Regional Centre for Mycology and Biotechnology, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Beni Suef, Egypt
  • 2 Augusta University, Augusta, Georgia, United States
  • 3 University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
  • 4 University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The immune system is endowed with the capacity to distinguish between self and nonself, so-called immune tolerance or "consciousness of the immune system". This type of awareness is designed to achieve host protection by eliminating cells expressing a wide-range of non-self antigens including microbial-derived peptides. Such successful immune response is associated with secretion of a whole spectrum of soluble mediators e.g. cytokines and chemokines, which actually not only contribute to the clearance of infected host cells but can also activate T cells that are not specific to the original cognate antigen. This kind of non-specific T cell activation is called "Bystander activation". Although, it is well-established that this phenomenon is cytokine dependent, there are evidence in the literature showing the involvement of peptide/MHC recognition depending on the type of T cell subset (naïve vs memory). Here, we will summarize the current understanding for the mechanism(s) of bystander T cell activation as well as its biological significance in a wide range of diseases including microbial infections, cancer, autoand allo-immunity, and chronic inflammatory diseases such as atherosclerosis.

    Keywords: T cells, bystander, activation, Cytokines, peptide/MHC complex

    Received: 17 Jul 2024; Accepted: 31 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Mohammed, Dokhan, Al Moussawy and Abdelsamed. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Mouhamad Al Moussawy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, 15260, Pennsylvania, United States
    Hossam Abdelsamed, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.