Assessment of memory formation by metabolically engineered antigen-specific CD8 T cells

The formation of memory CD8⁺ T cells is crucial for host protection upon reencounter of the same pathogen. Moreover, long-lasting anti-tumoral effects of immunomodulatory drugs largely depend on the induction of immunological memory. While the transcriptional processes behind memory T cell differentiation have been described in detail, it is only recently becoming clear that memory T cell formation and maintenance are tightly controlled by specific metabolic pathways. Therefore, metabolic engineering of CD8⁺ T cells in order to promote their memory formation represents a valuable strategy to improve vaccination efficacy and cancer immunotherapy. Here, we describe several mouse in vitro and in vivo assays that can be used to evaluate whether a specific metabolic pathway is involved in memory CD8⁺ T cell differentiation. To this end, a metabolic process can be tested by either genetic deletion or pharmaceutical inhibition/activation of the key enzyme involved. The in vitro assays might allow for rapid screening of multiple candidate pathways, while the in vivo assays are required to reliably determine the quality and functionality of the generated memory CD8⁺ T cells.