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Antigen-Specific Central Memory CD4+ T Lymphocytes Produce Multiple Cytokines and Proliferate In Vivo in Humans

2006; American Association of Immunologists; Volume: 177; Issue: 11 Linguagem: Inglês

10.4049/jimmunol.177.11.8185

1550-6606

Muriel Stubbe, Nathalie Vanderheyde, Michel Goldman, Arnaud Marchant,

Immune Cell Function and Interaction

Abstract The function of Ag-specific central (TCM) and effector (TEM) memory CD4+ T lymphocytes remains poorly characterized in vivo in humans. Using CD154 as a marker of Ag-specific CD4+ T cells, we studied the differentiation of memory subsets following anti-hepatitis B immunization. Hepatitis B surface Ag (HBs)-specific memory CD4+ T cells were heterogeneous and included TCM (CCR7+CD27+) and TEM (CCR7−CD27+/−). HBs-specific TCM and TEM shared the capacity to produce multiple cytokines, including IL-2 and IFN-γ. Several years postimmunization, ∼10% of HBs-specific memory CD4+ T cells were in cycle (Ki67+) and the proliferating cells were CCR7+. These results suggest that the model of functional specialization of TCM and TEM cannot be applied to protein vaccine Ags and support the concept that TCM are capable of self-renewal and contribute to maintain the pool of memory cells.