RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Cutting Edge: Rapid In Vivo Killing by Memory CD8 T Cells
JF The Journal of Immunology
JO J. Immunol.
FD American Association of Immunologists
SP 27
OP 31
DO 10.4049/jimmunol.171.1.27
VO 171
IS 1
A1 Barber, Daniel L.
A1 Wherry, E. John
A1 Ahmed, Rafi
YR 2003
UL http://www.jimmunol.org/content/171/1/27.abstract
AB In this study, we examined the cytotoxic activity of effector and memory CD8 T cells in vivo. At the peak of the CTL response following an acute lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus infection, effector CD8 T cells exhibited extremely rapid killing and started to eliminate adoptively transferred target cells within 15 min by a perforin-dependent mechanism. Although resting memory CD8 T cells are poorly cytolytic by in vitro 51Cr release assays, there was rapid elimination (within 1–4 h) of target cells after transfer into immune mice, and both CD62Lhigh and CD62Llow memory CD8 T cells were able to kill rapidly in vivo. Strikingly, when directly compared on a per cell basis, memory CD8 T cells were only slightly slower than effector cells in eliminating target cells. These data indicate that virus specific memory CD8 T cells can rapidly acquire cytotoxic function upon re-exposure to Ag and are much more efficient killers in vivo than previously appreciated.