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Updated: May 28, 2026

Use of Single Chain MHC Technology to Investigate Co-agonism in Human CD8+ T Cell Activation
Published on: February 28, 2019
Human CD8+ T cells display a differential ability to undergo cytokine-driven bystander activation
Elsa N Bou Ghanem1, Sarah E F D'Orazio
1Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40502, USA.
Abstract:
A subset of CD44(hi)CD8+ T cells in some, but not all mice, can be induced to rapidly secrete IFNγ during infection with Listeria monocytogenes. This response is dependent on the presence of both IL-12 and IL-18 and does not require engagement of the T cell receptor. In this study, we demonstrate that human CD8+ T cells also vary widely in their ability to secrete IFNγ within 15h of either Listeria infection or cytokine stimulation. The magnitude of the rapid IFNγ response correlated more closely with the intrinsic responsiveness of the T cells to cytokine stimulation rather than the amount of IL-12 produced. CD8+ T cells from 2 out of 16 blood donors (12.5%) failed to generate a significant IFNγ response. These results demonstrate that bystander activation of CD8+ T cells varies among individuals and validate further study of the differential responses observed using BALB/c vs. C57BL/6 mice.
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