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Transduction and Expansion of Primary T Cells in Nine Days with Maintenance of Central Memory Phenotype
Published on: March 18, 2020
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CD57+ Memory T Cells Proliferate In Vivo
Raya Ahmed1, Kelly L Miners2, Julio Lahoz-Beneytez3
1Institute for Infection and Immunity, St. George's, University of London, London SW17 0RE, UK.
Cell Reports
|December 16, 2020
Summary
Senescent memory T cells expressing CD57 are sustained by self-renewal, not just phenotypic transition. This finding suggests that immunological memory is intrinsically sustainable in aged, differentiated T cell populations.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Cell Biology
- Aging Research
Background:
- A central tenet in lymphocyte biology is that memory T cells expressing CD57 are replicatively senescent.
- These CD57+ memory T cells accumulate with age and expand during persistent antigen stimulation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the origin of CD57+ memory T cells.
- To determine whether CD57+ memory T cells arise from phenotypic transition or self-renewal through proliferation.
Main Methods:
- In vivo deuterium labeling to track cell division.
- Ex vivo analysis of telomere length and telomerase activity.
- Intracellular Ki67 expression to assess cell proliferation.
Main Results:
- Compelling evidence supports the self-renewal of CD57+ memory T cells via intracompartmental proliferation.
- Mathematical modeling indicates self-renewal is the primary source of new CD57+ memory T cells.
- These findings challenge the notion that CD57+ cells are exclusively terminally differentiated and non-proliferative.
Conclusions:
- Immunological memory is intrinsically sustainable within highly differentiated T cell subsets expressing CD57.
- The self-renewal capacity of CD57+ memory T cells contributes significantly to maintaining immune memory over time.
Keywords:
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