title: Cutting edge: Rapamycin augments pathogen-specific but not graft-reactive CD8+ T cell responses.
abstract: Recent evidence demonstrating that exposure to rapamycin during viral infection increased the quantity and quality of Ag-specific T cells poses an intriguing paradox, because rapamycin is used in transplantation to dampen, rather than enhance, donor-reactive T cell responses. In this report, we compared the effects of rapamycin on the Ag-specific T cell response to a bacterial infection versus a transplant. Using a transgenic system in which the Ag and the responding T cell population were identical in both cases, we observed that treatment with rapamycin augmented the Ag-specific T cell response to a pathogen, whereas it failed to do so when the Ag was presented in the context of a transplant. These results suggest that the environment in which an Ag is presented alters the influence of rapamycin on Ag-specific T cell expansion and highlights a fundamental difference between Ag presented by an infectious agent as compared with an allograft.
authors.affiliation: Emory Transplant Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
authors.forename: Ivana R
authors.initials: IR
authors.lastname: Ferrer
authors.forename: Maylene E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Wagener
authors.forename: Jennifer M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Robertson
authors.forename: Alexa P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Araki
authors.forename: Rafi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.forename: Allan D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Kirk
authors.forename: Christian P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Larsen
authors.forename: Mandy L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Ford
mesh_terms: D019264:Adoptive Transfer; D000818:Animals; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D019041:L-Selectin / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D008089:Listeria monocytogenes / Q000276:immunology*; D008088:Listeriosis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D020123:Sirolimus / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016038:Skin Transplantation / Q000276:immunology; D013154:Spleen / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000637:transplantation
chemical_list: D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D019041:L-Selectin; D007371:Interferon-gamma; D020123:Sirolimus