Effects of the aged microenvironment on CD4+ T cell maturation.
Contributing to the functional alterations of the aged immune system is the accumulation of memory CD4+ T lymphocytes and decline in the proportion of naive cells occurring with advancing age. During attempts to alter the naive to memory ratio of CD4+ cells in aged mice, it was observed that regeneration of the peripheral T cell compartment resulted in a population which possessed the same memory cell-enriched characteristics as the unmanipulated age-matched controls. Thymopoiesis in aged mice does not appear to be altered in such a way as to give rise to emigrants with 'memory-like' characteristics. The aged peripheral microenvironment does, however, cause the accelerated maturation of mature, naive CD4+ T cells to the memory state.
Thoman
M L
ML
Department of Immunology, Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
D000818:Animals; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000276:immunology; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000276:immunology; D002455:Cell Division / Q000276:immunology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D016922:Cellular Senescence / Q000276:immunology*; D002678:Chimera; D005260:Female; D007106:Immune Sera; D007107:Immune System / Q000502:physiology*; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D012038:Regeneration / Q000502:physiology*
D007106:Immune Sera