#t-lymphocyte

Video Clip SS234741 (Human T lymphocytes)

Human T lymphocytes attacking and killing a Melanoma cancer cell.  Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer. 

T-lymphocytes are a type of white blood cell and one of the components of the body's immune system. They recognize a specific site (antigen) on the surface of cancer cells or pathogens and bind to it. 

Learn More About T-Lymphocytes

Some t-lymphocytes then signal for other immune system cells to eliminate the cell. Cytotoxic t-lymphocytes eliminate the cell themselves by releasing a protein that forms pores in the cell's membrane. 

The genetic changes that cause a cell to become cancerous lead to the presentation of tumor antigens on the cell's surface.

FDA Approves First Cell-Based Therapy For Cancer

by Rob Stein / NPR Health

The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday announced what the agency calls a "historic action", the first approval of a cell-based gene therapy in the United States.

The FDA approved Kymriah, which scientists refer to as a "living drug" because it involves using genetically modified immune cells from patients to attack their cancer.

Learn More About CAR-T Cell Therapy

The drug was approved to treat children and young adults suffering from acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer of blood and bone marrow that is the most common childhood cancer in the United States. About 3,100 patients who are 20 and younger are diagnosed with ALL each year.

"We're entering a new frontier in medical innovation with the ability to reprogram a patient's own cells to attack a deadly cancer," FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a written statement.

"New technologies such as gene and cell therapies hold out the potential to transform medicine and create an inflection point in our ability to treat and even cure many intractable illnesses," Gottlieb said.

The treatment involves removing immune system cells known as T cells from each patient and genetically modifying the cells in the laboratory to attack and kill leukemia cells. The genetically modified cells are then infused back into patients. It's also known as CAR-T cell therapy.

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Image SS2683843 (Dendritic cell & Lymphocyte, SEM)

Dendritic cell and lymphocyte, colored scanning electron micrograph (SEM).

Interaction between a dendritic cell (blue) and a T lymphocyte (pink), two components of the body's immune system. Both are types of white blood cell.

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T-lymphocytes recognize a specific site on the surface of pathogens or foreign objects (antigens), bind to it, and produce antibodies or cells to eliminate that antigen. 

Dendritic cells are antigen-presenting cells (APCs), they present antigens to T lymphocytes, which can only recognize antigens when they are presented by APCs. 

Magnification: x3750 when printed 10cm wide.

Video Clip SS278308 (Cytotoxic T-Lymphocyte)

Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte killing an influenza-infected cell. The smaller cell is the T cell, the larger one the infected cell. Lymphocytes can learn to recognize cells that are infected with viruses or that are cancerous. They attack and kill these cells.

T-lymphocytes are a type of white blood cell and one of the components of the body's immune system. They recognize a specific site (antigen) on the surface of cancer cells or other pathogens and bind to it.

Learn More About Cytotoxic T-Lymphocytes

Some T-lymphocytes then signal for other immune system cells to eliminate the cell. Cytotoxic T lymphocytes, like the one shown above, eliminate the cell themselves by releasing a protein that forms pores in the cell's membrane.

All T cells originate from haematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow. Haematopoietic progenitors (lymphoid progenitor cells) from haematopoietic stem cells populate the thymus and expand by cell division to generate a large population of immature thymocytes.