Synthesis of prenyl pyrophosphonates as new potent phosphoantigens inducing selective activation of human Vgamma9Vdelta2 T lymphocytes.

Gamma9delta2T cells represent the most abundant population of human blood gammadeltaT lymphocytes. They produce and promote strong cytotoxic activity against many pathogens that are implicated in several human infectious diseases. Their activation requires their exposure to small phosphorus-containing antigens in the family of prenyl pyrophosphates and their related biosynthetic precursors such as isopentenyl pyrophosphate (IPP) and dimethylallyl pyrophosphate (DMAPP), which are naturally occurring metabolites in mycobacteria and several other microbial pathogens.