Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 3, 2026
Discrimination of Seven Immune Cell Subsets by Two-fluorochrome Flow Cytometry
Published on: March 5, 2019
Multiparameter flow cytometric analysis of CD4 and CD8 T cell subsets in young and old people
Sven Koch1, Anis Larbi, Evelyna Derhovanessian
1Center for Medical Research (ZMF), University of Tübingen, Waldhörnlestrasse 22, 72072, Tübingen, Germany. s.d.koch@amc.uva.nl
Insights
Immune cells in older adults show altered T cell subsets, impacting T cell-mediated immunity. This study details these shifts and proposes a T cell differentiation model for aging immune systems.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Gerontology
Background:
- T cell-mediated immunity declines with age, affecting peripheral T cell composition.
- Polychromatic flow cytometry enables detailed analysis of immune cell subsets.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate age-related shifts in T cell subsets.
- To characterize T cell differentiation in elderly individuals.
Main Methods:
- Utilized polychromatic flow cytometry to analyze T cell subsets (naïve, central memory, effector memory).
- Employed markers including CD45RA, CCR7, CD27, CD28, CD57, and KLRG-1.
- Assessed T cell proliferation and cytokine secretion.
Main Results:
- Documented shifts in naïve, central memory, and effector memory T cell subsets in the elderly.
- Observed more pronounced age-related differences in CD8+ T cells compared to CD4+ T cells.
- Proposed a T cell differentiation model from naïve to end-stage effector cells.
Conclusions:
- Age-related changes in CD8+ T cells are due to both subset distribution and inter-subset differences.
- For CD4+ T cells, intra-subset differences are more significant than inter-subset differences in aging.
Background:
T cell-mediated immunity in elderly people is compromised in ways reflected in the composition of the peripheral T cell pool. The advent of polychromatic flow cytometry has made analysis of cell subsets feasible in unprecedented detail.
Results:
Here we document shifts in subset distribution within naïve (N), central memory (CM) and effector memory (EM) cells defined by CD45RA and CCR7 expression in the elderly, additionally using the costimulatory receptors CD27 and CD28, as well as the coinhibitory receptors CD57 and KLRG-1, to further dissect these. Although differences between young and old were more marked in CD8 than in CD4 cells, a similar overall pattern prevailed in both. Thus, the use of all these markers together, and inclusion of assays of proliferation and cytokine secretion, may enable the construction of a differentiation scheme applicable to CD4 as well as CD8 cells, with the model (based on Romero et al.) suggesting the progression N-->CM-->EM1-->EM2-->pE1-->pE2-->EM4-->EM3-->E end-stage non-proliferative effector cells.
Conclusion:
Overall, the results suggest that both differences in subset distribution and differences between subsets are responsible for age-related changes in CD8 cells but that differences within rather than between subsets are more prominent for CD4 cells.
