HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Herndler-Brandstetter, D. Articles by Grubeck-Loebenstein, B. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Herndler-Brandstetter, D. Articles by Grubeck-Loebenstein, B.

CD25-Expressing CD8⁺ T Cells Are Potent Memory Cells in Old Age¹

Dietmar Herndler-Brandstetter^2,*, Susanne Schwaiger^2,*, Ellen Veel^*, Christine Fehrer, Daniel P. Cioca^*, Giovanni Almanzar^*, Michael Keller^*, Gerald Pfister^*, Walther Parson, Reinhard Würzner, Diether Schönitzer^¶, Sian M. Henson^||, Richard Aspinall^||, Günter Lepperdinger and Beatrix Grubeck-Loebenstein^3,*

^* Immunology Division and Extracellular Matrix Research Division, Institute for Biomedical Aging and Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Innsbruck, Austria; Institute for Legal Medicine and Department of Hygiene, Microbiology and Social Medicine, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria; ^¶ Institute for Blood Transfusion and Immunological Department, Innsbruck, Austria; and ^|| Department of Immunology, Imperial College London, Chelsea & Westminster Hospital, London, United Kingdom

We have recently described an IL-2/IL-4-producing CD8⁺CD25⁺ nonregulatory memory T cell population that occurs in a subgroup of healthy elderly persons who characteristically still have a good humoral response after vaccination. The present study addresses this specific T cell subset and investigates its origin, clonal composition, Ag specificity, and replicative history. We demonstrate that CD8⁺CD25⁺ memory T cells frequently exhibit a CD4⁺CD8⁺ double-positive phenotype. The expression of the CD8 molecule and the occurrence of signal-joint TCR rearrangement excision circles suggest a thymic origin of these cells. They also have longer telomeres than their CD8⁺CD25^– memory counterparts, thus indicating a shorter replicative history. CD8⁺CD25⁺ memory T cells display a polyclonal TCR repertoire and respond to IL-2 as well as to a panel of different Ags, whereas the CD8⁺CD25^– memory T cell population has a more restricted TCR diversity, responds to fewer Ags, and does not proliferate in response to stimulation with IL-2. Molecular tracking of specific clones with clonotypic primers reveals that the same clones occur in CD8⁺CD25⁺ and CD8⁺CD25^– memory T cell populations, demonstrating a lineage relationship between CD25⁺ and CD25^– memory CD8⁺ T cells. Our results suggest that CD25-expressing memory T cells represent an early stage in the differentiation of CD8⁺ cells. Accumulation of these cells in elderly persons appears to be a prerequisite of intact immune responsiveness in the absence of naive T cells in old age.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				B. H. Lemster, J. J. Michel, D. T. Montag, J. J. Paat, S. A. Studenski, A. B. Newman, and A. N. Vallejo Induction of CD56 and TCR-Independent Activation of T Cells with Aging J. Immunol., February 1, 2008; 180(3): 1979 - 1990. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Huang, K. W. Kerstann, M. Ahmadzadeh, Y. F. Li, M. El-Gamil, S. A. Rosenberg, and P. F. Robbins Modulation by IL-2 of CD70 and CD27 Expression on CD8+ T Cells: Importance for the Therapeutic Effectiveness of Cell Transfer Immunotherapy. J. Immunol., June 15, 2006; 176(12): 7726 - 7735. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. PFISTER, D. WEISKOPF, L. LAZUARDI, R. D. KOVAIOU, D. P. CIOCA, M. KELLER, B. LORBEG, W. PARSON, and B. GRUBECK-LOEBENSTEIN Naive T cells in the elderly: are they still there? Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci., May 1, 2006; 1067: 152 - 157. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]