IMMUNE REGULATION - A NEW ROLE FOR THE CD8(-CELL() T)

During an immune response, peripheral T cells develop into functionall y distinct subpopulations that effect cell-mediated immunity and regul ate humoral immune responses through the secretion of specific cytokin es. Recent data suggest that CD8(+) T cells, which have long been rega rded simply as cytotoxic cells, play a more active role in the regulat ion of the immune response. in this article, Mike Kemeny and colleague s suggest that there are functionally distinct subsets of CD8(+) T cel ls that produce different combinations of cytokines and appear to play an important part in determining the pattern of cytokines produced by CD4(+) T cells and the isotype of immunoglobulins expressed by B cell s.