{"database":"GEO","file_versions":[{"headers":{"Content-Type":["application/json"]},"body":{"files":{"Other":["ftp://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/series/GSE262nnn/GSE262925/"]},"type":"primary"},"statusCodeValue":200,"statusCode":"OK"}],"scores":null,"additional":{"omics_type":["Transcriptomics"],"species":["Mus musculus"],"gds_type":["Expression profiling by high throughput sequencing"],"full_dataset_link":["https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/query/acc.cgi?acc=GSE262925"],"repository":["GEO"],"entry_type":["GSE"],"additional_accession":[]},"is_claimable":false,"name":"An IL-21-expressing effector CD8+ T cell subset provides superior control of infection and cancer","description":"CD8+ T cells are critical in immune responses against pathogens and malignancies. After activation, antigen-specific CD8+ T cells differentiate into cytotoxic effector cells, which are regarded to be phenotypically similar and unlike CD4+ T cells, do not contain different functional subsets. Interleukin 21 (IL-21), well known to be primarily produced by CD4+ T cells, exerts multifaceted effects on the regulation and function of CD8+ T cells. In this study, utilizing IL-21 reporter and fate-mapping mice, we have uncovered a new population of IL-21-expressing CD8+ T cells in the context of infection and cancer. These T cells, coined as Tc21 cells, exhibited remarkable proliferative and cytotoxic capacities, with elevated expression levels of IFNγ and GZMB, than IL-21- T cells. Tc21 cells efficiently developed into memory cells during acute infections and maintained a less dysfunctional state in chronic infection. Importantly, Tc21 cells played a pivotal role in mounting effective protection to virus and cancer. Collectively, these findings highlight an effector subset of IL-21-expressing CD8+ T cells pivotal in host protection, and may suggest new approaches of cancer immunotherapy.","dates":{"publication":"2026/08/01"},"accession":"GSE262925","cross_references":{"GSM":["GSM8181549","GSM8181548","GSM8181559","GSM8181558","GSM8181557","GSM8181567","GSM8181556","GSM8181566","GSM8181555","GSM8181565","GSM8181554","GSM8181564","GSM8181553","GSM8181552","GSM8181563","GSM8181551","GSM8181562","GSM8181561","GSM8181550","GSM8181560"],"GPL":["21103"],"GSE":["262925"],"taxon":["Mus musculus"]}}