T Cell Responses in Human Health and Disease - Second Edition

Dear Colleagues,

Over the last few years, the research area of human immunology has been shaped by several novel concepts and technological advances, which have significantly contributed to translational progress in human health. Single-cell technologies, and most importantly, single-cell transcriptomics, have entered human immunology and provided more insights into the heterogeneity of lymphocyte populations, thus unmasking novel players in disease pathogenesis and their respective phenotypes, functions, and regulatory checkpoints.

Investigations in the area of human immunology have also shifted from the blood to the peripheral tissues. It has been acknowledged that 98% of human T cells reside in peripheral tissues, where they adapt to their local microenvironments and where they assume specialized functions. Their identity has been overlooked by a previous focus on the circulating blood compartment. We now consider these tissue-resident T cells (T_RM) to be critical for host defense, cancer, and autoimmunity. While great insights into T_RM cells in mouse models have been generated, insights into their identity in humans are just beginning to emerge. Considering their impact on human diseases, novel therapeutic strategies are expected to shape medicine in the near future.

While previous years of human T cell research have centered on T cell stability versus plasticity and on cytokine networks, we now consider T cells to be more malleable, with a multitude of external signals from the microenvironment. This includes not only their microbial antigens but also metabolites and even ionic signals.

All these taken together, human immunology has entered the center stage in translational research due to its great impact on human health and disease. This Special Issue invites you to share your expertise in this research topic.

Prof. Dr. Christina Zielinski
Guest Editor

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