Cellular and molecular mechanisms of memory T-cell survival

Abstract

Long-term maintenance of the memory T-cell response is the hallmark of immune protection and, hence, constitutes one of the most important objectives of vaccine-development strategies. Persistent memory T cells, developed after vaccination or microbial infections, ensure the generation of an antimicrobial response upon re-exposure to the pathogen through rapid clonal proliferation and activation of effector functions. However, in the context of many pathogen infections, these memory T cells fail to persist and die. In this review, we will highlight recent exciting findings in studies of memory T cells, their generation, their lineage relationships and their survival pathways; indeed, survival of memory T cells and maintenance of their functionality are key features of the immune response in its quest to control disease progression and in the development of vaccines to persistent microbial infections.

Keywords::

• differentiation
• FOXO3a
• memory
• signaling
• survival
• T cell

Financial & competing interests disclosure

Grants awarded to Rafick-Pierre Sékaly from the US NIH, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Canadian Network for Vaccine and Immunotherapeutics, Genome Québec, Genome Canada, and the Fonds de la recherche en Santé du Québec AIDS network. Rafick-Pierre Sékaly is the Canada Research Chair in Human Immunology. Andre Tanel holds a scholarship from Fonds de la recherche en Santé du Québec. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.