IL-15 promotes self-renewal of progenitor exhausted CD8 T cells during persistent antigenic stimulation.

ABSTRACT: In chronic infections and cancer, exhausted CD8 T cells exhibit heterogeneous subpopulations. TCF1+PD-1+ progenitor exhausted CD8 T cells (Tpex) can self-renew and give rise to Tim-3+PD-1+ terminally differentiated CD8 T cells that retain their effector functions. Tpex cells are thus essential to maintaining a pool of antigen-specific CD8 T cells during persistent antigenic stimulation, and only they respond to PD-1-targeted therapy. Despite their potential as a crucial therapeutic target for immune interventions, the mechanisms controlling the maintenance of virus-specific Tpex cells remain to be determined. We observed approximately 10-fold fewer Tpex cells in the spleens of mice chronically infected with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) one-year post-infection (p.i.) than at th

SUBMITTER: Lee J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10319055 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature