Abstract
Our knowledge about the kinetics and dynamics of complex pathogen-specific CD8+ T cell responses and the in vivo development of CD8+ memory T cells has increased substantially over the past years; in comparison, relatively little is known about the CD4+ T cell compartment. We monitored and directly compared the phenotypical changes of pathogen (Listeria monocytogenes)-specific CD8+ and CD4+ T cell responses under conditions leading to effective and long-lasting protective immunity. We found that the general kinetics of bacteria-specific CD8+ and CD4+ T cells during the effector and post-effector phases are synchronized. However, later during the memory phase, CD8+ and CD4+ T cell populations differ substantially. Whereas CD8+ memory T cell populations with immediate effector function are readily detectable in lymphoid and non-lymphoid tissues and remain remarkably stable in size, antigen-specific CD4+ effector-memory T cells decline continuously in frequency over time. These findings have important implications for the better understanding of the in vivo development of protective immunity towards intracellular pathogens.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 2875-2885 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | European Journal of Immunology |
Volume | 33 |
Issue number | 10 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Oct 2003 |
Keywords
- Bacterial infection
- CD4
- CD8 memory T cells
- Protective immunity
- T cells