The Scientific World Journal
Volume 2012, Article ID 308265, 7 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1100/2012/308265
CD8+ T Cells: GITR Matters
Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale, Sezione di Farmacologia, Tossicologia e Chemioterapia, Università di Perugia, Via del Giochetto, 06100 Perugia, Italy
Received 26 October 2011; Accepted 25 December 2011
Academic Editors: M. Hukkanen and N. Isakov
Copyright © 2012 Simona Ronchetti et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
As many members of the tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily, glucocorticoid-induced TNFR-related gene (GITR) plays multiple roles mostly in the cells of immune system. CD8+ T cells are key players in the immunity against viruses and tumors, and GITR has been demonstrated to be an essential molecule for these cells to mount an immune response. The aim of this paper is to focus on GITR function in CD8+ cells, paying particular attention to numerous and recent studies that suggest its crucial role in mouse disease models.