Cutting Edge: Elevated Glycolytic Metabolism Limits the Formation of Memory CD8 T Cells in Early Life.

Neonates often develop poor immunity against intracellular pathogens. Because CD8 T cells are essential for eliminating infectious agents, it is crucial to understand why they behave differently in early life. Previous studies in mice have demonstrated that neonatal CD8 T cells fail to form memory because of an intrinsic propensity to differentiate into short-lived effectors. However, the underlying mechanisms remain undefined. We now show that neonatal CD8 T cells exhibit higher glycolytic activity than adult CD8 T cells postinfection, which may be due to age-related differences in Lin28b expression. Importantly, when glycolysis is pharmacologically inhibited, the impaired formation of neonatal memory CD8 T cells can be restored. Collectively, these data suggest that neonatal CD8 T cells are inherently biased toward undergoing glycolytic metabolism postinfection, which compromises their ability to develop into memory CD8 T cells in early life.