Encyclopedia > Helper T cell

  Article Content

Helper T cell

A helper (or TH) T cell is a T cell (a type of white blood cell) which has on its surface antigen receptors that can bind to fragments of antigens displayed by the Class II MHC molecules of infected somatic cells.

Once bound to an antigen, the TH cell proliferates and differentiates into activated TH cells and memory TH cells.

Most TH cells have present on the cell surface the protein CD4[?], which is attracted to portions of the Class II MHC molecule. This affinity keeps the TH cell and the target cell bound closely together during antigen-specific activation. TH cells with CD4 surface protein are called CD4+ T cells.

See also:



All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

 
  Search Encyclopedia

Search over one million articles, find something about almost anything!
 
 
  
  Featured Article
Islip Terrace, New York

... a household in the town is $66,644, and the median income for a family is $69,389. Males have a median income of $51,036 versus $30,714 for females. The per capita income ...

 
 
 
This page was created in 20.9 ms