T-cells as a Diagnostic Tool in Benign and Malignant Disease

Dear Colleagues,

T-cells are lymphocytes that form the backbone of the adaptive immune system, playing key roles in immunological tolerance, responses to infection and keeping potentially neoplastic processes in check. Because of this, they are one of the most widely involved cell types in disease processes. Like all cells, various phenotypes can be defined, and T-cells have a broader range of immunophenotypic markers than many other cell types, allowing a number of categories to be defined with different roles, activation status and levels of dysfunction or exhaustion. In addition to the many, variably expressed immunophenotypic markers on the surface of T-cells, nature has provided an extraordinary system that permits us to follow T-cells in any body fluid or tissue. This is because each T-cell undertakes rearrangement of its DNA in between 2 and 4 gene loci (TRA, TRB, TRG and TRD), generating unique sequences in the alpha/beta or gamma/delta T-cell receptor, permitting unique antigen binding specificity. T-cells responding to antigens undergo clonal expansion, increasing the frequency of their particular receptor. In the rare event of the development of T-cell neoplasia (lymphoma), clonal expansion is even more marked. This Special Issue will consider how these extraordinary facets of T-cell biology have been exploited in the diagnosis of benign and malignant disease.

Dr. Elizabeth Soilleux
Guest Editor

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