| First Author | Choo DK | Year | 2010 |
| Journal | J Immunol | Volume | 185 |
| Issue | 6 | Pages | 3436-44 |
| PubMed ID | 20733203 | Mgi Jnum | J:163530 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:4822268 | Doi | 10.4049/jimmunol.1001421 |
| Citation | Choo DK, et al. (2010) Homeostatic turnover of virus-specific memory CD8 T cells occurs stochastically and is independent of CD4 T cell help. J Immunol 185(6):3436-44 |
| abstractText | Memory CD8 T cells persist by Ag-independent homeostatic proliferation. To examine the dynamics of this cell turnover, we transferred lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus specific memory CD8 T cells into naive mice and analyzed their in vivo division kinetics longitudinally in individual recipients.Using mathematical modeling, we determined that proliferation of this stably maintained memory CD8 T cell population was homogeneous and stochastic with a small fraction of cells completing division at any given time with an intermitotic interval of 50 d. This homeostatic turnover was comparable between memory CD8 T cells of different viral epitope specificities and also the total memory phenotype (CD44(high)) CD8 T cells. It is well established that CD4 T cell help is critical for maintenance of CD8 T cells during chronic infections, but recent studies have suggested that CD4 T cell help is also required for maintenance of memory CD8 T cells following acute infections. Hence, we assessed the role of CD4 T cells in Ag-independent maintenance of memory CD8 T cells. Consistent with previous reports, we found that memory CD8 T cells declined when transferred into MHC class II-deficient mice. However, their numbers were maintained stably when transferred into CD4 T cell-deficient mice. Interestingly, their homeostatic proliferation, ability to make recall responses, and phenotype were independent of CD4 T cell help because none of these qualities were affected when memory CD8 T cells were transferred and maintained in either MHC class II- or CD4-deficient recipients. |
