title: Resolution of infection promotes a state of dormancy and long survival of CD4 memory T cells.
abstract: Memory T cells survive throughout the lifetime of an individual and are protective upon recall. It is not clear how memory T cells can live so long. Here, we demonstrate that at the resolution of a viral infection, low levels of antigen are captured by B cells and presented to specific CD4(+) memory T cells to render a state of unresponsiveness. We demonstrate in two systems that this process occurs naturally during the fall of antigen and is associated with a global gene expression program initiated with the clearance of antigen. Our study suggests that in the absence of antigen, a state of dormancy associated with low-energy utilization and proliferation can help memory CD4(+) T cells to survive nearly throughout the lifetime of mice. The dormant CD4(+) memory T cells become activated by stimulatory signals generated by a subsequent infection. We propose that quiescence might be a mechanism necessary to regulate long-term survival of CD4 memory T cells and to prevent cross-reactivity to self, hence autoimmunity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
authors.forename: Sarat K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Dalai
authors.forename: Stanislav
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khoruzhenko
authors.forename: Charles G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Drake
authors.forename: Chunfa C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Jie
authors.forename: Scheherazade
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sadegh-Nasseri
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017951:Antigen Presentation; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D002470:Cell Survival; D015226:Dinucleoside Phosphates / Q000276:immunology; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006706:Homeostasis; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009113:Muramidase / Q000276:immunology; D010047:Ovalbumin / Q000276:immunology; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets; D014616:Vaccinia virus / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D015226:Dinucleoside Phosphates; D009113:Muramidase; D010047:Ovalbumin; C015772:CpG dinucleotide; C421864:hen egg lysozyme