T cell life and death signalling via TNF-receptor family members

An effective immune response requires the rapid and accurate mobilisation of millions of effector cells in an antigen driven fashion. These effector cells must be kept alive long enough to fulfil their function but the majority must then be eliminated, a process known as activation-induced cell death. Recent advances in the field of lymphocyte biology have shed light onto how this balance is maintained and onto the consequences for disease if the homeostatic mechanisms become disturbed.