Local Cellular and Cytokine Cues in the Spleen Regulate In Situ T Cell Receptor Affinity, Function, and Fate of CD8+ T Cells.

Summary T cells rapidly undergo contraction upon viral clearance, but how T cell function and fate are determined during this phase is unclear. During the contraction phase of an acute infection with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus, we found that virus-specific CD8 + T cells within the splenic red pulp (RP) had higher two-dimensional (2D) effective affinity than those within the white pulp (WP). This increased antigen recognition of RP-derived CD8 + T cells correlated with more efficient target cell killing and improved control of viremia. FoxP3 + regulatory T cells and cytokine TGF-β limited the 2D-affinity in the WP during the contraction phase. Anatomical location drove gene expression patterns in CD8 + T cells that led to preferential differentiation of memory precursor WP T cells into long-term memory cells. These results highlight that intricate regulation of T cell function and fate is determined by anatomic compartmentalization during the early immune contraction phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]