Purpose of review: The scope of this review is to place recent advances in T-cell immunotherapy into an account of our understanding of the potential role of CD8+ T cells in the pathogenesis of allergic disease.
Recent findings: Studies over the last year suggest that changes in CD8+ T-cell function may represent key events in successful T-cell immunotherapy. The first human human leukocyte antigen class I allergen epitopes have now been described and will provide further insights into the role of allergen-specific CD8+ T cells.
Summary: The coupling of recent technical advances in the study of antigen-specific T cells with the knowledge of human allergen class I epitopes will promote rapid progress in the field, with potential consequences for the diagnosis, monitoring and immunotherapeutic treatment of affected individuals.