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,
* Department of Experimental Immunology,
Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Nephrology,
Department of Viro-Immunology, Sanquin Research and Landsteiner Laboratory, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; and
Department of Immunology, University Medical Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Immunological memory provides long-term protection against reinfection or reactivation of pathogens. Murine memory T cell populations may be compressed following infections with new pathogens. Humans have to retain memory T cells directed against a variety of microbes for many decades. Under these circumstances, the effect of pathogens that mount robust T cell reactivity on the pre-existing memory directed against unrelated microbes is unknown. In this study, we studied peripheral blood memory CD8+ T cells directed against different viruses following primary CMV infection in renal transplant recipients. The entrance of CMV-specific CD8+ T cells expanded the Ag-primed CD8+ T cell compartment rather than competing for space with pre-existing memory T cells specific for persistent or cleared viruses. Neither numbers nor phenotype of EBV- or influenza-specific CD8+ T cells was altered by primary CMV infection. CMV-specific CD8+ T cells accumulated over time, resulting in increased total CD8+ T cell numbers. Additionally, they acquired a highly differentiated cytolytic phenotype that was clearly distinct from EBV- or influenza-reactive T cells. Thus, the human immune system appears to be flexible and is able to expand when encountering CMV. In view of the phenotypic differences between virus-specific T cells, this expansion may take place in cellular niches different from those occupied by EBV- or influenza-specific T cells, thereby preserving immunity to these pathogens.
The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked advertisement in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.
1 Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Ineke J. M. ten Berge, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Nephrology, Academic Medical Center, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands. E-mail address: r.j.tenberge{at}amc.uva.nl
2 Abbreviations used in this paper: P, prednisolone; CsA, cyclosporin A; MMF, mycophenolate mofetil; Tac, tacrolimus; Aza, azathioprine; FLU, influenza; RSV, respiratory syncytial virus.
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