In Context
- The study reveals the durability and robustness of the T cell responses against variants, including Delta, even after one year of infection.Â
- Strong and long standing T cell responses were seen even when people were not reinfected or vaccinated
About T cell
- T cells are a diverse and important group of lymphocytes that mature and undergo positive and negative selection processes in the thymus.Â
- Types:Â
- There are several types of T cells; the most common and well-known are the CD4+ T cells (helper T cells) and CD8+ T Cells (cytotoxic T cells, or killer T cells).
- As the names suggest, helper T cells ‘help’ other cells of the immune system, whilst cytotoxic T cells kill virally infected cells and tumours.
- Functions:
- T cells play a vital role in both components of active immunity, including cell-mediated and to some extent humoral immunity.Â
- Â T cells cannot recognize soluble, free antigens. T cells can only recognize protein-based, receptor-bound antigens.Â
Source:TH