helper T cell

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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 ?

T helper cell plasticity seems to play a key role in amplitude of diseases.

[CD4.sup.+] T Helper Cell Plasticity in Infection, Inflammation, and Autoimmunity

However, the PHI group did exhibit stronger T helper cell responses, which led the researchers to suggest that "individuals treated in early infection may benefit from [therapeutic] strategies aimed at enhancing virus-specific CTL responses, whereas individuals treated later in infection may benefit from strategies aimed at enhancing HIV-1-specific T helper cell functions as well as broadening CTL responses to combat increased viral diversity." Decreased CTL activity had also been observed in early-disease patients who had been treated from 45 to 90 days after symptomatic acute infection, according to a study published 2 years earlier by researchers from the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center (ADARC) in New York and colleagues.

Can treatment during primary HIV infection lead to control of disease without drugs?

"Our findings, in both animal and human models, indicate that the type of T helper cell present is the determining factor in predicting whether interferon-_ will be effective," Raman added.

First biomarker for multiple sclerosis found

The costimulatory molecule ICOS regulates the expression of c-Maf and IL-21 in the development of follicular T helper cells and TH-17 cells.