1. Autophagy is essential for effector CD8+ T cell survival and memory formation.
- Author
-
Xu, Xiaojin, Araki, Koichi, Li, Shuzhao, Han, Jin-Hwan, Ye, Lilin, Tan, Wendy G, Konieczny, Bogumila T, Bruinsma, Monique W, Martinez, Jennifer, Pearce, Erika L, Green, Douglas R, Jones, Dean P, Virgin, Herbert W, and Ahmed, Rafi
- Subjects
- *
AUTOPHAGY , *T cells , *IMMUNOLOGIC memory , *ANIMAL models for virus diseases , *LABORATORY mice , *LYMPHOCYTIC choriomeningitis virus , *CELL proliferation - Abstract
The importance of autophagy in the generation of memory CD8+ T cells in vivo is not well defined. We report here that autophagy was dynamically regulated in virus-specific CD8+ T cells during acute infection of mice with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus. In contrast to the current paradigm, autophagy decreased in activated proliferating effector CD8+ T cells and was then upregulated when the cells stopped dividing just before the contraction phase. Consistent with those findings, deletion of the gene encoding either of the autophagy-related molecules Atg5 or Atg7 had little to no effect on the proliferation and function of effector cells, but these autophagy-deficient effector cells had survival defects that resulted in compromised formation of memory T cells. Our studies define when autophagy is needed during effector and memory differentiation and warrant reexamination of the relationship between T cell activation and autophagy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2014
- Full Text
- View/download PDF