The Vast Universe of T Cell Diversity: Subsets of Memory Cells and Their Differentiation

Camilla Jandus1, Amaia Martínez Usatorre1, Selena Viganò1

  • 1Translational Tumor Immunology Group, Ludwig Cancer Research Center, University of Lausanne, Biopole III, CB02, Chemin des Boveresses 155, 1066, Epalinges, Switzerland.

The T cell receptor confers specificity for antigen recognition to T cells. By the first encounter with the cognate antigen, reactive T cells initiate a program of expansion and differentiation that will define not only the ultimate quantity of specific cells that will be generated, but more importantly their quality and functional heterogeneity. Recent achievements using mouse model infection systems have helped to shed light into the complex network of factors that dictate and sustain memory T cell differentiation, ranging from antigen load, TCR signal strength, metabolic fitness, transcriptional programs, and proliferative potential. The different models of memory T cell differentiation are discussed in this chapter, and key phenotypic and functional attributes of memory T cell subsets are presented, both for mouse and human cells. Therapeutic manipulation of memory T cell generation is expected to provide novel unique ways to optimize current immunotherapies, both in infection and cancer.

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