Memory CD4 T cells: generation, reactivation and re-assignment

Immunological memory is one of the features that define the adaptive immune response: by generating specific memory cells after infection or vaccination, the host provides itself with a set of cells and molecules that can prevent future infections and disease. Despite the obvious importance of memor...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Immunology 2010-05, Vol.130 (1), p.10-15
Main Authors: MacLeod, Megan K.L, Kappler, John W, Marrack, Philippa
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
CD4
CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes - immunology
Humans
Immune system
Immunologic Memory - immunology
infection
Lymphocyte Activation - immunology
Lymphocytes
Medical research
memory
reactivation
Review articles
T cell
T cell receptors
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Summary:Immunological memory is one of the features that define the adaptive immune response: by generating specific memory cells after infection or vaccination, the host provides itself with a set of cells and molecules that can prevent future infections and disease. Despite the obvious importance of memory cells, memory CD4 T cells are incompletely understood. Here we discuss recent progress in understanding which activated T cells surmount the barrier to enter into the memory pool and, once generated, what signals are important for memory cell survival. There is still, however, little understanding of how (or even whether) memory CD4 T cells are useful once they have been created; a surprising thought considering the critical role CD4 T cells play in all adaptive primary immune responses. In light of this, we will discuss how CD4 T memory T cells respond to reactivation in vivo and whether they are malleable to a re-assignment of their effector response.
ISSN:0019-2805
1365-2567
DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2567.2010.03260.x