Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 15, 2026

Measuring Mitochondrial Function of Naïve and Effector CD8 T Cells
Published on: March 28, 2025
T cell metabolism and the immune response
Katherine C Verbist1, Ruoning Wang, Douglas R Green
1St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Department of Immunology, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, United States. katherine.verbist@stjude.org
Abstract:
As T cells respond to pathogens, they must transition from a quiescent, naïve state, to a rapidly proliferating, active effector state, and back again to a quiescent state as they develop into memory cells. Such transitions place unique metabolic demands on the differentiating cells. T cells meet these demands by altering their metabolic profiles, which are, in turn, regulated by distinct signaling cascades and transcriptional programs. Here, we examine the metabolic profiles of T cells during an acute immune response and discuss the signal and transcriptional regulators of these metabolic changes.
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