Post-thymic regulation of CD5 levels in human memory T cells is inversely associated with the strength of responsiveness to interleukin-15.

ABSTRACT: Immunologic memory is a critical feature of the adaptive immune system to fight recurrent infections. However, the mechanisms that shape the composition and function of the human memory T-cell pool remain incompletely understood. We here demonstrate that post-thymic human T-cell differentiation was associated with the downregulation, but not loss, of the inhibitory molecule CD5. The sensitivity of human CD8(+) and CD4(+) memory T cells to interleukin (IL)-15 was inversely associated with the level of CD5 expression. CD5 expression was downregulated by IL-15-mediated signaling in vitro and CD5(lo) memory T cells accumulated in the bone marrow. Persistent antigenic stimulation, as in the case of cytomegalovirus infection and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), was also associated with an increased nu

SUBMITTER: Herndler-Brandstetter D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3144390 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature