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Updated: Jul 6, 2026

Murine Superficial Lymph Node Surgery
Published on: May 21, 2012
Linear differentiation of cytotoxic effectors into memory T lymphocytes
J T Opferman1, B T Ober, P G Ashton-Rickardt
1Committee on Immunology, Department of Pathology, Committee on Developmental Biology, The University of Chicago, Gwen Knapp Center for Lupus and Immunology Research, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
Abstract:
A central question in immunology is the origin of long-lived T cell memory that confers protection against recurrent infection. The differentiation of naïve T cell receptor transgenic CD8+ cells into effector cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) and memory CD8+ cells was studied. Memory CD8+ cells that were generated after strong antigenic stimulation were the progeny of cytotoxic effectors and retained antigen-specific cytolytic activity 10 weeks after adoptive transfer to antigen-free recipient mice. Thus, potential vaccines based on CTL memory will require the differentiation of naïve cells into post-effector memory T cells.
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