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The effector to memory transition of CD4 T cells

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Abstract

The small number of antigen-specific memory CD4 T cells surviving long-term after antigen or pathogen challenge are often characterized by a surprising degree of phenotypic and functional heterogeneity. We here propose that the immune system has evolved to express this diversity in memory T-cell populations, in order to provide flexibility in recall responses, via a rapid transition from heterogeneous effector cells into correspondingly heterogeneous memory cells. Little attention has been paid to another important transition—from resting memory cell to re-activated effector. We would suggest that superior functional attributes of secondary effectors arising from memory CD4 T cells, as compared to primary effectors arising from naïve precursors, play an important and underappreciated role in protective secondary immune responses.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by National Institutes of Health grant AI-46530 (S.L.S) and Trudeau Institute. We thank Dr. D. Jelley-Gibbs for helpful discussion and critical reading of the manuscript.

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  1. Trudeau Institute, 154 Algonquin Ave, Saranac Lake, NY, 12983, USA

    K. Kai McKinstry, Tara M. Strutt & Susan L. Swain

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  1. K. Kai McKinstry
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Correspondence to K. Kai McKinstry.

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McKinstry, K.K., Strutt, T.M. & Swain, S.L. The effector to memory transition of CD4 T cells. Immunol Res 40, 114–127 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12026-007-8004-y

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