Antigen-specific T_H17 cells offset the age-related decline in durable T cell immunity.

ABSTRACT: Older adults are susceptible to infections in part due to waning of immune memory. To uncover mechanisms of a long-lasting immune memory, we contrasted varicella zoster virus antigen-specific memory T cell responses in adults vaccinated at young (<20 years) or older age (>50 years) with a live-attenuated vaccine conferring durable protection only when given at young age or with an adjuvanted component vaccine eliciting long-lasting immunity in older adults. Unlike VZV-specific CD4⁺ T cells, CD8⁺ T cells exhibited profound age-sensitive changes including memory subset shifts, reduced T cell receptor diversity, and loss of stem-like features. Vaccination of older adults with the adjuvanted vaccine did not restore CD8⁺ defects but selectively enhanced T helper

SUBMITTER: Sturmlechner I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12880537 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature