摘要
A characteristic feature of the adaptive immune system is immunological memory,which is the more rapid and more potent response to antigenic challenge upon re-encountering the antigen–even years after the primary antigen contact.CD8 T cells are essential players in the adaptive immune response to viruses and intracellular microbes.Upon infection,antigen-responsive naive CD8 T cells are activated and they clonally expand to give rise to sufficient effector cell numbers to execute an adequate immune response.Effector cells are deleted after the clearance of infection,but some T cells survive and are maintained as memory T cells in a non-proliferative state in secondary lymphoid tissues and bone marrow.1 Complex transcriptional programs regulate CD8 T-cell differentiation from antigen-inexperienced naive cells via the effector cell stage towards long-term memory cells.
作者简介
Correspondence:Dr Dieter Kabelitz,Institute of Immunology,University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein Campus Kiel,Arnold-Heller-Str.3,Bldg.17,D-24105 Kiel,Germany.E-mail:dietrich.kabelitz@uksh.de。
