title: T cell signaling: effect of age.
abstract: Although it is well established that the functional properties of T cells decrease with age, its biochemical and molecular nature is poorly understood. The available data suggest that changes in the signal transduction machinery are responsible for the impairment of T cell function during aging. T cell activation is initiated when an antigenic peptide is recognized by the antigen receptor of T cells. This recognition event promotes sequential activation of a network of signaling molecules such as kinases, phosphatates, and adaptor proteins that couple the stimulatory signal received from T cell receptor (TCR) to intracellular signaling pathways. The coordinate activation of these signaling molecules is sufficient to stimulate the activation of transcription factors and the expression of the immediate-early genes that are crucial in regulation of T cell function.
authors.affiliation: Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center, South Texas Veterans Health Care System, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio 78284, USA. Pahlavani@uthscsa.edu
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Pahlavani
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases / Q000502:physiology; D011905:Genes, ras / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D010766:Phosphorylation; D017027:Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases / Q000502:physiology; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000502:physiology; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000502:physiology*; D015290:Second Messenger Systems; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases; D017027:Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases; D002118:Calcium