Abstract
We studied the influence of memory T cell properties on the efficiency of secondary immune responses by comparing the in vivo immune response of the same numbers of T cell receptor (TCR) transgenic (Tg) naïve and memory T cells. Compared to naïve Tg cells, memory cells divided after a shorter lag time; had an increased division rate; a lower loss rate; and showed more rapid and efficient differentiation to effector functions. We found that initial naïve T cell priming resulted in cells expressing mutually exclusive effector functions, whereas memory T cells were multifunctional after reactivation, with each individual cell expressing two to three different effector functions simultaneously. These special properties of memory T cells ensure the immediate control of reinfection.
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Acknowledgements
We thank C. Garcia for cell sorting; A.M. Joret and S. Leaument for technical assistance; A. Le Campion for statistics; J. Di Santo, A.A. Freitas, D. Guy-Grand, A. Sarukhan and H. von Boehmer for reviewing the manuscript. This work was supported by grants from the National Association of AIDS Research, France. H.V.-F. was supported by a grant from Technology and Science Foundation, Praxis XXI, Portugal.
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Veiga-Fernandes, H., Walter, U., Bourgeois, C. et al. Response of naïve and memory CD8+ T cells to antigen stimulation in vivo. Nat Immunol 1, 47–53 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/76907
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/76907
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