Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Biology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
J Exp Med. 2011 May 9;208(5):1093-103. doi: 10.1084/jem.20101527. Epub 2011 Apr 11.
"Memory-like T cells" are a subset of thymic cells that acquire effector function through the maturation process rather than interaction with specific antigen. Disruption of genes encoding T cell signaling proteins or transcription factors have provided insights into the differentiation of such cells. In this study, we show that in BALB/c, but not C57BL/6, mice, a large portion of thymic CD4(-)CD8(+) T cells exhibit a memory-like phenotype. In BALB/c mice, IL-4 secreted by invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells is both essential and sufficient for the generation of memory-like T cells. In C57BL/6 mice, iNKT cells are less abundant, producing IL-4 that is insufficient to induce thymic memory-like CD8(+) T cells. BALB/c mice deficient in the transcription factor Kruppel-like factor (KLF) 13 have comparable numbers of iNKT cells to C57BL/6 mice and extremely low levels of thymic memory-like CD8(+) T cells. This work documents the impact of a small number of KLF13-dependent iNKT cells on the generation of memory-like CD8(+) T cells.
“类记忆 T 细胞”是胸腺细胞的一个亚群，它们通过成熟过程获得效应功能，而不是与特定抗原相互作用。编码 T 细胞信号蛋白或转录因子的基因的破坏为这些细胞的分化提供了深入的了解。在这项研究中，我们表明，在 BALB/c 而不是 C57BL/6 小鼠中，大部分胸腺 CD4(-)CD8(+)T 细胞表现出类记忆表型。在 BALB/c 小鼠中，不变自然杀伤 T(iNKT)细胞分泌的 IL-4 对于产生类记忆 T 细胞是必需的和充分的。在 C57BL/6 小鼠中，iNKT 细胞数量较少，产生的 IL-4 不足以诱导胸腺类记忆 CD8(+)T 细胞。缺乏转录因子 Kruppel 样因子(KLF)13 的 BALB/c 小鼠与 C57BL/6 小鼠的 iNKT 细胞数量相当，但胸腺类记忆 CD8(+)T 细胞的水平极低。这项工作记录了一小部分 KLF13 依赖性 iNKT 细胞对类记忆 CD8(+)T 细胞产生的影响。
