Molecular and functional profiling of memory CD8 T cell differentiation.
How and when memory T cells form during an immune response are long-standing questions. To better understand memory CD8 T cell development, a time course of gene expression and functional changes in antigen-specific T cells during viral infection was evaluated. The expression of many genes continued to change after viral clearance in accordance with changes in CD8 T cell functional properties. Even though memory cell precursors were present at the peak of the immune response, these cells did not display hallmark functional traits of memory T cells. However, these cells gradually acquired the memory cell qualities of self-renewal and rapid recall to antigen suggesting the model that antigen-specific CD8 T cells progressively differentiate into memory cells following viral infection.
Kaech
Susan M
SM
Emory Vaccine Center and Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory University School of Medicine, 1510 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
Hemby
Scott
S
Kersh
Ellen
E
Ahmed
Rafi
R
D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002455:Cell Division; D002469:Cell Separation; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D008954:Models, Biological; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D013997:Time Factors