title: Aging, persistent viral infections, and immunosenescence: can exercise "make space"?
abstract: Overcrowding the immune space with excess clones of viral-specific T cells causes the naïve T-cell repertoire to shrink, which increases infection susceptibility to novel pathogens. Physical exercise preferentially mobilizes senescent T cells from the peripheral tissues into the blood, which might facilitate their subsequent apoptosis and create "vacant space" for newly functional T cells to occupy and expand the naïve T-cell repertoire.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Integrated Physiology, Department of Health and Human Performance, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204, USA. rjsimpson@uh.edu
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Simpson
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000276:immunology*; D017209:Apoptosis; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000276:immunology