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Guidelines for T cell nomenclature.

Nature reviews. Immunology

Authors: David Masopust, Amit Awasthi, Rémy Bosselut, David G Brooks, Marcus Buggert, Kenji Chamoto, Weiguo Cui, Chen Dong, Donna L Farber, Thomas Gebhardt, Carmen Gerlach, Ananda Goldrath, Philip D Greenberg, J Scott Hale, Adrian Hayday, Dirk Homann, Matteo Iannacone, Stephen C Jameson, Marc K Jenkins, Nikhil S Joshi, Susan M Kaech, Axel Kallies, Alice O Kamphorst, Mark H Kaplan, Paul Klenerman, Marco Künzli, Antonio Lanzavecchia, Georg M Lauer, Enrico Lugli, Andrew D Luster, Laura K Mackay, M Juliana McElrath, Scott N Mueller, Zaza Ndhlovu, Thumbi Ndung'u, Pamela S Ohashi, Annette Oxenius, Giuseppe Pantaleo, Marion Pepper, Louis J Picker, Clare F Quarnstrom, Gustavo Reyes-Terán, Mario Roederer, Pamela C Rosato, Gonzalo Salgado-Montes de Oca, Federica Sallusto, Ton N Schumacher, Daniella M Schwartz, Eui-Cheol Shin, Andrew G Soerens, Daniela S Thommen, Vaiva Vezys, João P B Viola, Bruce D Walker, Tania H Watts, Casey T Weaver, E John Wherry, Hai-Hui Xue, Ben Youngblood, Rafi Ahmed

Advances in T cell biology have revealed heterogeneity among T cell populations that is not captured by existing general nomenclature. This issue has caused an ad hoc broadening of core T cell subset definitions and the invention of new subset designations that have not been uniformly delineated. To address this issue, in this Consensus Statement, we propose guidelines that serve three goals. First, they advocate that primary research reports define the experimental basis by which relevant subsets are designated in the methods section of each study. Second, they provide standardized definitions for existing subset designations in popular use, and common experimental criteria for defining each subset are noted. Last, they present an alternative 'modular nomenclature' paradigm. The newly proposed modular nomenclature eschews conceptualization of antigen-experienced T cells as belonging to a few idealized subsets, and the nomenclature instead simply indicates individual biological properties present in a T cell population with brief descriptors. Collectively, these guidelines intend to enhance transparency in the literature while facilitating clearer communication of findings and concepts to researchers, students and clinicians.

© 2025. Springer Nature Limited.

PMID: 41254224

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