Transfer of CD8+ T cell memory using Bcl-2 as a marker.
The processes that regulate T cell memory generation are important for therapeutic design and the immune response to disease. However, what allows a subset of effector T cells to survive the contraction period to become memory cells is incompletely understood. The Bcl-2 family is critical for T cell survival, and Bcl-2 has been proposed to be important for the survival of memory cells. However, previous studies have relied on double-knockout models, potentially skewing the role of Bcl-2, and the use of Bcl-2 as a marker in adoptive transfer experiments, a method required to confirm the memory potential of cell subsets, has not been possible because of the intracellular localization of the protein. In this study, we present a novel Bcl-2 reporter mouse model and, to our knowledge, show for the first time that a distinct subset of effector T cells, and also a subset within the CD127(hi)KLRG1(lo) memory precursor effector cell population, retains high Bcl-2 expression at the peak of the CD8(+) T cell response to Listeria monocytogenes. Furthermore, we show that Bcl-2 correlates with memory potential in adoptive transfer experiments using both total responding CD8(+) T cells and memory precursor effector cells. These results show that even within the memory precursor effector cell population, Bcl-2 confers a survival advantage in a subset of effector CD8(+) T cells that allows differentiation into memory cells and cement Bcl-2 as a critical factor for T cell memory.
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Related Subject Headings
- Transgenes
- T-Lymphocyte Subsets
- Spleen
- Recombinant Fusion Proteins
- Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2
- Ovalbumin
- Mice, Transgenic
- Mice, Inbred C57BL
- Mice
- Luminescent Proteins
Citation
Published In
DOI
EISSN
Publication Date
Volume
Issue
Start / End Page
Location
Related Subject Headings
- Transgenes
- T-Lymphocyte Subsets
- Spleen
- Recombinant Fusion Proteins
- Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2
- Ovalbumin
- Mice, Transgenic
- Mice, Inbred C57BL
- Mice
- Luminescent Proteins