First Author | Kurachi M | Year | 2011 |
Journal | J Exp Med | Volume | 208 |
Issue | 8 | Pages | 1605-20 |
PubMed ID | 21788406 | Mgi Jnum | J:177603 |
Mgi Id | MGI:5295539 | Doi | 10.1084/jem.20102101 |
Citation | Kurachi M, et al. (2011) Chemokine receptor CXCR3 facilitates CD8(+) T cell differentiation into short-lived effector cells leading to memory degeneration. J Exp Med 208(8):1605-20 |
abstractText | Strength of inflammatory stimuli during the early expansion phase plays a crucial role in the effector versus memory cell fate decision of CD8(+) T cells. But it is not known how early lymphocyte distribution after infection has an impact on this process. We demonstrate that the chemokine receptor CXCR3 is involved in promoting CD8(+) T cell commitment to an effector fate rather than a memory fate by regulating T cell recruitment to an antigen/inflammation site. After systemic viral or bacterial infection, the contraction of CXCR3(-/-) antigen-specific CD8(+) T cells is significantly attenuated, resulting in massive accumulation of fully functional memory CD8(+) T cells. Early after infection, CXCR3(-/-) antigen-specific CD8(+) T cells fail to cluster at the marginal zone in the spleen where inflammatory cytokines such as IL-12 and IFN-alpha are abundant, thus receiving relatively weak inflammatory stimuli. Consequently, CXCR3(-/-) CD8(+) T cells exhibit transient expression of CD25 and preferentially differentiate into memory precursor effector cells as compared with wild-type CD8(+) T cells. This series of events has important implications for development of vaccination strategies to generate increased numbers of antigen-specific memory CD8(+) T cells via inhibition of CXCR3-mediated T cell migration to inflamed microenvironments. |