Peter Medawar Building for Pathogen Research, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 4SY, UK.
Trends Immunol. 2012 Feb;33(2):84-90. doi: 10.1016/j.it.2011.11.005. Epub 2012 Jan 3.
Typically, during viral infections, T cells encounter antigen, undergo proliferative expansion and ultimately contract into a pool of memory cells. However, after infection with cytomegalovirus, a ubiquitous β-herpesvirus, T cell populations specific for certain epitopes do not contract but instead are maintained and/or accumulate at high frequencies with a characteristic effector-memory phenotype. This feature has also been noted after other infections, for example, by parvoviruses. We discuss this so-called memory T cell inflation and the factors involved in this phenomenon. Also, we consider the potential therapeutic use of memory T cell inflation as a vaccine strategy and the associated implications for immune senescence.
通常，在病毒感染期间，T 细胞遇到抗原，经历增殖扩张，最终收缩成记忆细胞池。然而，在感染巨细胞病毒（一种普遍存在的β疱疹病毒）后，针对某些表位的 T 细胞群不会收缩，而是以特征性的效应记忆表型被维持和/或高频积累。这种特征也在其他感染后被注意到，例如，细小病毒感染。我们讨论了这种所谓的记忆 T 细胞膨胀以及涉及这种现象的因素。此外，我们还考虑了将记忆 T 细胞膨胀作为疫苗策略的潜在治疗用途以及对免疫衰老的相关影响。
