helper T cell

Any of a class of T cells that are activated by interacting with antigen-presenting cells, such as a dendritic cells, and then function to activate other cells of the immune system, including B cells, cytotoxic T lymphocytes, and phagocytes. Activated helper T cells usually have CD4 receptors on the surface. Also called T-helper cell.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

helper T cell

any of a group of T cells that activate the immune system either by enhancing the production of antibody and other T cells or by mobilizing macrophages to engulf invading particles.

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Noun

helper T cell - T cell with CD4 receptor that recognizes antigens on the surface of a virus-infected cell and secretes lymphokines that stimulate B cells and killer T cells; helper T cells are infected and killed by the AIDS virus

CD4 cell, CD4 T cell, helper cell

T cell, T lymphocyte - a small lymphocyte developed in the thymus; it orchestrates the immune system's response to infected or malignant cells

References in periodicals archive

Helper T cells augment the body's immune response by recognising the presence of a foreign antigen and then helping the immune system mount a response.

Researchers find clues to a functional HIV cure

In the early 2000's, a number of prominent studies in mice and in humans led to the identification of B follicular helper T cells, a subset of CD4 T cells localized in the tonsils and characterized by high expression of the master regulator bcl-6, which represses the expression of other T-cell subset-specific transcription factors and promotes the sustained expression of chemokine receptor CXCR5, which is essential for the migration of Tcells into the B-cell follicular zones (5).

Follicular helper T cell in immunity and autoimmunity

IgG IgA IgM Peripheral (7.00- (0.70- (0.40- [T.sub.FH]-like 16.00 g/L) 4.00 g/L) 2.30 g/L) cells (%) 1 6.04 2.68 0.72 0.28 2 8.10 1.75 1.19 0.42 3 13.49 1.19 1.70 0.30 4 13.26 2.54 5.84 * 0.92 5 9.10 1.30 0.64 0.77 6 9.64 2.18 1.65 1.11 7 14.34 3.15 2.14 0.44 8 22.79 * 2.95 0.75 1.56 9 19.97 * 5.23 * 3.43 * 0.57 10 26.92 * 6.34 * 2.97 * 0.68 No.: number; [T.sub.FH]: follicular helper T cell; * higher than normal range.

The histopathology of labial salivary glands in primary Sjogren's syndrome: focusing on follicular helper T cells in the inflammatory infiltrates

Researcher Dr Jane Steele said: "We found patients with pre-cancerous lesions most likely to progress to cervical cancer showed less immune activity from immune cells called helper T cells than women who were at much less risk.

Scientists take a step closer to understanding cervical cancer

Researchers now have evidence that CTLs indeed attack HIV in lymph tissue and seem to distinguish between healthy and infected helper T cells. To gauge CTLs' effect on HIV, researchers took CTLs from the blood of three HIV-positive people who were receiving antiviral treatment.

Multiplied immune cells combat HIV

DSP-7888 is an investigational cancer peptide vaccine containing peptides that induce Wilms' tumor gene 1 -specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes and helper T cells, which attack WT1-expressing cancerous cells found in various types of hematologic and solid cancers.

US FDA Grants Orphan Drug Designation for Boston Biomedical's Investigational WT1 Cancer Peptide Vaccine DSP-7888 in Brain Cancer

Craft, "Follicular helper T cells in immunity and systemic autoimmunity," Nature Reviews Rheumatology, vol.

Increased frequency of bone marrow T follicular helper cells in patients with immune-related pancytopenia

If the receptor on the surface of the helper T cells senses an "invader," a cascade of activation is triggered.

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) could be key to better cancer treatment: Tregs could be harnessed to develop more efficient cancer therapies, according to recent reseat

Cytotoxic T (Tc) cells were found to be more protective than helper T cells, and among Tc cells, protective activity was shown to depend on their frequency (number of virus-specific cells/total cells), cytokine secretion profile, memory type (central vs.

Prospects for universal influenza virus vaccine