Hepatic diseases include viral infections, inflammations, injuries, and tumors, which affect millions of people every year. The liver is the largest solid organ in the body with special immunological characteristics, where both innate immunity and adaptive immunity play critical roles. The adaptive immune response is a major branch of the immune system that induces localized and systematic responses against pathogens and tumors. Hepatic T cells, including those that are resident in the liver (invariant natural killer T cells, gamma-delta T cells, and memory CD8+ T cells) and those that are recruited into the liver, play important protective roles against infection and non-infectious insults yet may also have pathological effects in the process of various liver diseases. A better understanding of the functions and regulatory mechanisms of hepatic T cells in the pathogenesis of liver-related disorders will provide an opportunity to uncover novel treatment options for liver diseases.
This Research Topic aims at discussing recent understandings of the phenotypes, functions, and regulatory mechanisms of different hepatic T cell populations in the contexts of both infectious and non-infectious liver diseases, including HBV, HCV, alcoholic liver disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, hepatocellular carcinoma, and others.
Submission of Original Research, Review, and Mini-Review articles are welcome here that cover, but are not limited to, the following subtopics:
1) Regulatory mechanisms involved in the induction of T cell dysfunction, including T cell anergy, T cell exhaustion, and T cell apoptosis.
2) Immune surveillance mechanisms of conventional naïve and effector CD4+/CD8+ T cells.
3) Phenotypic and functional characterization of liver resident T cells, including memory CD8+ T (TRM) cells, gamma-delta T cells, and NKT cells.
4) Pathophysiological roles of regulatory T cells in liver diseases.
5) Crosstalk between T cells and hepatic microenvironment in liver diseases.
Hepatic diseases include viral infections, inflammations, injuries, and tumors, which affect millions of people every year. The liver is the largest solid organ in the body with special immunological characteristics, where both innate immunity and adaptive immunity play critical roles. The adaptive immune response is a major branch of the immune system that induces localized and systematic responses against pathogens and tumors. Hepatic T cells, including those that are resident in the liver (invariant natural killer T cells, gamma-delta T cells, and memory CD8+ T cells) and those that are recruited into the liver, play important protective roles against infection and non-infectious insults yet may also have pathological effects in the process of various liver diseases. A better understanding of the functions and regulatory mechanisms of hepatic T cells in the pathogenesis of liver-related disorders will provide an opportunity to uncover novel treatment options for liver diseases.
This Research Topic aims at discussing recent understandings of the phenotypes, functions, and regulatory mechanisms of different hepatic T cell populations in the contexts of both infectious and non-infectious liver diseases, including HBV, HCV, alcoholic liver disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, hepatocellular carcinoma, and others.
Submission of Original Research, Review, and Mini-Review articles are welcome here that cover, but are not limited to, the following subtopics:
1) Regulatory mechanisms involved in the induction of T cell dysfunction, including T cell anergy, T cell exhaustion, and T cell apoptosis.
2) Immune surveillance mechanisms of conventional naïve and effector CD4+/CD8+ T cells.
3) Phenotypic and functional characterization of liver resident T cells, including memory CD8+ T (TRM) cells, gamma-delta T cells, and NKT cells.
4) Pathophysiological roles of regulatory T cells in liver diseases.
5) Crosstalk between T cells and hepatic microenvironment in liver diseases.
