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The activation of T cells causes many cellular changes, including alterations in cell morphology, motility, and size. While all immunologists know that T cells increase their size and become "blasted" upon activation, little attention has been paid to the question of how cell size is regulated and how this process influences T-cell responses. In this issue of the European Journal of Immunology, Kaesler et al. [Eur. J. Immunol. 2012. 42: 831-841] demonstrate that the organic osmolyte taurine and its transporter Taut are instrumental in driving cell-volume regulation and therefore the T-cell response. In the absence of Taut, effector and memory T-cell responses in mice are severely impaired, mainly due to increased apoptosis of effector cells. Hence, this paper provides an important link between the regulation of cell size and effector T-cell responses.

Original publication

DOI

10.1002/eji.201242450

Type

Journal article

Journal

Eur J Immunol

Publication Date

04/2012

Volume

42

Pages

819 - 821

Keywords

Animals, CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes, CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes, Lymphocyte Activation, Membrane Glycoproteins, Membrane Transport Proteins