Regulation of the gamma delta T cell functional programming by the Slam/SAP signaling pathway

Slam receptors regulate the development and function of several lymphocyte subsets. Nevertheless, their role on gamma delta T cells is largely unknown. We discovered the presence of distinct Vgamma4+ T cell subsets expressing either SLAMf1 or SLAMf6, but not both. We used microarray gene expression analysis of SLAMf1+ and SLAMf6+ single positive Vgamma4+ T cells to investigate the functional significance of those SLAM receptors in gamma delta T cell biology. Single cell suspensions of mouse lungs were prepared, stained with specific antibodies for SLAMf1, SLAMf6 and Vγ4 T cell receptors and flow sorted.