These cells constitute 95 percent of the T cell population, and their job is to protect the body from dangerous microbes. Now, Stanford researchers may have helped solve these two mysteries. Their latest results strongly support the notion that gd T cells help to regulate immune responses.
T cells is geared toward regulation rather than immune response.
In some circumstances it is advantageous to shut down an immune response as soon as possible, Chien explained, because the body can be harmed by cytokines and other factors released by immune system cells activated to fight an infection. Septic shock is the most extreme example of overzealous immune system cells inadvertently damaging the body in their efforts to get rid of a bacterial infection. Auto-immune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis are other examples of bodily harm caused by an unruly immune system. According to Chien, immunologists have theorized that the gd T cells help to maintain the balance of the immune system, but it was unclear exactly what they do and how they work. And this was the question she and members of her lab set out to answer.