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"Recognized for Pioneering and Expanding Research on Bystander T Cell Activation"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] Domestic researchers have been recognized for elucidating the role of 'bystander T cells' in the human immune process against diseases.

The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) announced on the 31st that Professor Shin Ui-cheol of the Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering, Dr. Lee Ho-young, and graduate student Jung Sung-joo published an invited review paper in the August issue of the world-renowned immunology journal Nature Immunology, emphasizing the importance of bystander T cell activation in infectious diseases.

Leading global research on the role of bystander T cells in human diseases, Professor Shin Ui-cheol's team comprehensively reviewed the roles of bystander T cells in various infectious diseases and the mechanisms regulating them, suggesting future research directions applicable to human disease treatment through this review paper.

Generally, when the human body is infected by a virus, T cells that perform antiviral functions are activated to promote recovery from the disease. At this time, only T cells responding to a specific virus are activated, while unrelated T cells remain inactive; this phenomenon is called selective immune response. Selective immune response occurs as T cells recognize viral antigen peptides.

However, depending on the type of virus and the patient's immune system, activation of T cells unrelated to the infecting virus can occur, which is referred to as bystander T cell activation. Bystander T cell activation is known to be induced by cytokines regardless of the presence of viral antigen peptides. This activation must be considered to more precisely understand immune responses in individuals with complex infection histories.

In 2018, Professor Shin's team newly discovered the phenomenon of bystander T cell activation as the cause of severe destruction of liver cells in patients infected with hepatitis A virus, which was prevalent in Korea during the 2010s, and reported the results in the international immunology journal Immunity. This was the world's first systematic demonstration of the role of bystander T cells in human diseases.

Since then, the research team has actively continued related studies and discovered more detailed mechanisms. They identified molecules regulating T cells residing in liver tissue that can induce bystander activation and reported this in the 2020 international journal Journal of Hepatology. They also found that a special type of T cells, mucosal-associated invariant T cells (MAIT), can contribute to liver damage through a similar activation process, publishing these findings in the same journal that year. Recently, they discovered cell migration-related mechanisms necessary for activated bystander T cells to move to infected tissues and reported this in the international journal Cell Reports.

Currently, the research team is conducting follow-up studies to elucidate the characteristics and related mechanisms of bystander T cell activation in viral and tumor diseases. They are also researching bystander T cell activation and roles in the ongoing global COVID-19 infection situation.

Professor Shin Ui-cheol's team was recognized for pioneering and expanding the field of bystander T cell activation research, leading to the publication of this invited review paper.

The team's review paper was published on the 5th of last month.

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