[NTR] immune cell

[ami-day]

Preferred term label

immune cell

Synonyms

Textual definition

A cell that is part of the immune system and helps the body fight infections and other diseases.

Suggested parent term

animal cell CL:0000548 https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ols/ontologies/cl/terms?iri=http%3A%2F%2Fpurl.obolibrary.org%2Fobo%2FCL_0000548&lang=en&viewMode=PreferredRoots&siblings=false

Use case

Cell type ontology (HCA)

Attribution

[ghost]

Hi @ami-day, can you kindly provide a reference for the source of this cell type (PMID, DOI, etc)?

Considering the parent term, would CL:0000988 'hematopoietic cell' be appropriate? Are there any 'immune cells' that would not be hematopoietic cells?

[ami-day]

Hi @ami-day, can you kindly provide a reference for the source of this cell type (PMID, DOI, etc)?

Considering the parent term, would CL:0000988 'hematopoietic cell' be appropriate? Are there any 'immune cells' that would not be hematopoietic cells?

Hi @bvarner-ebi, here is a reference for the description: "https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/immune-cell"

Having looked through a number of specific immune cell ontologies as examples, I think CL:0000988 'hematopoietic cell' is suitable as the parent term.

[addiehl]

Looking at the source definition, I see that it contains the gloss "These include neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils, mast cells, monocytes, macrophages, dendritic cells, natural killer cells, and lymphocytes (B cells and T cells)." That is pretty much the same subtypes that the existing CL class 'leukocyte' has. How is 'immune cell' distinct from leukocyte?

I think that 'immune cell' should be added as a 'related synonym' to leukocyte. It's not an exact synonym, because there are non-leukocyte cells that play important roles in the functioning of the immune system (such as follicular dendritic cells, endothelial cells of the high-endothelial venues, platelets, and more), and these cells are important in the functioning of the immune system.

[ghost]

Hi, @ami-day, given @addiehl's comment above, would 'leukocyte' meet your use case? We can update "immune cell" to be a related synonym to that term.

[ghost]

Hi, @ami-day, checking in to confirm if the solution above will work for your use case. I am planning a CL release tomorrow, so if I get confirmation in time, the synonym updated will be incorporated in the next release.

[ami-day]

Hi @bvarner-ebi and @addiehl This sounds great, I agree I could use 'leukocyte' and that "immune cell" should be added as a related synonym. Thanks for your insight and swift response.

[ghost]

Great, thank you for confirming, @ami-day. This change has been made and will be reflected in the next CL release.