Friend or Foe - Tc17 cell generation and current evidence for their importance in human disease

Anna Veronika Hipp; Bertram Bengsch; Anna-Maria Globig

doi:10.1093/discim/kyad010

Friend or Foe - Tc17 cell generation and current evidence for their importance in human disease

Discov Immunol. 2023 Jul 20;2(1):kyad010. doi: 10.1093/discim/kyad010. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Anna Veronika Hipp¹, Bertram Bengsch¹, Anna-Maria Globig¹

Affiliation

¹ Clinic for Internal Medicine II, Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Endocrinology, and Infectious Diseases, University Medical Center Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, Freiburg, Germany.

Abstract

The term Tc17 cells refers to interleukin 17 (IL-17)-producing CD8⁺ T cells. While IL-17 is an important mediator of mucosal defense, it is also centrally involved in driving the inflammatory response in immune-mediated diseases, such as psoriasis, multiple sclerosis, and inflammatory bowel disease. In this review, we aim to gather the current knowledge on the phenotypic and transcriptional profile, the in vitro and in vivo generation of Tc17 cells, and the evidence pointing towards a relevant role of Tc17 cells in human diseases such as infectious diseases, cancer, and immune-mediated diseases.

Keywords: IL-17; T cell; Tc17; Th17; inflammatory bowel disease.

Publication types

Review