Role of antigen persistence and dose for CD4+ T-cell exhaustion and recovery.

ABSTRACT: It is currently not understood how some chronic infections exhaust antigen-specific T cells over time and which pathogen components contribute to exhaustion. Here, we dissected the behavior of primed CD4(+) T cells exposed to persistent antigen using an inducible transgenic mouse system that allowed us to control antigen presentation as the only experimental variable, independent of the persistent inflammation and disease progression that complicate infectious models. Moreover, this system restricted antigen presentation to dendritic cells (DCs) and avoided confounding B, CD8(+) T, or innate cell responses. When antigen presentation was extended beyond the expansion phase, primed CD4(+) T cells survived, but exhibited reduced memory functionality in terms of their proliferative capacity an

SUBMITTER: Han S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2996637 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature