Cutting Edge: IL-7-Independent Regulation of IL-7 Receptor α Expression and Memory CD8 T Cell Development

Cutting edge: IL-15-independent maintenance of mucosally generated memory CD8 T cells.

Effective vaccines against intracellular pathogens rely on the generation and maintenance of memory CD8 T cells (T(mem)). Hitherto, evidence has indicated that CD8 T(mem) use the common γ-chain cytokine IL-15 for their steady-state maintenance in the absence of Ag. This evidence, however, has been amassed predominantly from models of acute, systemic infections. Given that the route of infection...

IL-7 receptor expression levels do not identify CD8+ memory T lymphocyte precursors following peptide immunization.

Identification of the mechanisms underlying the survival of effector T cells and their differentiation into memory T lymphocytes are critically important to understanding memory development. Because cytokines regulate proliferation, differentiation, and survival of T lymphocytes, we hypothesized that cytokine signaling dictates the fate of effector T cells. To follow cytokine receptor expressio...

Differential Regulation of Human IL-7 Receptor Expression by IL-7 and TCR Signaling

Inverse correlation between IL-7 receptor expression and CD8 T cell exhaustion during persistent antigen stimulation.

Persistence is a hallmark of infection by viruses such as HIV, hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus and LCMV. In the case of LCMV, persistence may often be associated with exhaustion of CD8(+) T cells. We demonstrate here that persistent antigen suppressed IL-7Ralpha expression and this correlated with T cell exhaustion and reduced expression of the anti-apoptotic molecule B cell leukemia/lymph...

Cutting Edge: memory regulatory t cells require IL-7 and not IL-2 for their maintenance in peripheral tissues.

Thymic Foxp3-expressing regulatory T cells are activated by peripheral self-antigen to increase their suppressive function, and a fraction of these cells survive as memory regulatory T cells (mTregs). mTregs persist in nonlymphoid tissue after cessation of Ag expression and have enhanced capacity to suppress tissue-specific autoimmunity. In this study, we show that murine mTregs express specifi...