Browsing by keyword "CTL"
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CD4 T cell help prevents CD8 T cell exhaustion and promotes control of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infectionCD4 T cells are essential for immunity to tuberculosis because they produce cytokines, including interferon-gamma. Whether CD4 T cells act as "helper" cells to promote optimal CD8 T cell responses during Mycobacterium tuberculosis is unknown. Using two independent models, we show that CD4 T cell help enhances CD8 effector functions and prevents CD8 T cell exhaustion. We demonstrate synergy between CD4 and CD8 T cells in promoting the survival of infected mice. Purified helped, but not helpless, CD8 T cells efficiently restrict intracellular bacterial growth in vitro. Thus, CD4 T cell help plays an essential role in generating protective CD8 T cell responses against M. tuberculosis infection in vitro and in vivo. We infer vaccines that elicit both CD4 and CD8 T cells are more likely to be successful than vaccines that elicit only CD4 or CD8 T cells.
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Modulation of let-7 miRNAs controls the differentiation of effector CD8 T cellsThe differentiation of naive CD8 T cells into effector cytotoxic T lymphocytes upon antigen stimulation is necessary for successful antiviral, and antitumor immune responses. Here, using a mouse model, we describe a dual role for the let-7 microRNAs in the regulation of CD8 T cell responses, where maintenance of the naive phenotype in CD8 T cells requires high levels of let-7 expression, while generation of cytotoxic T lymphocytes depends upon T cell receptor-mediated let-7 downregulation. Decrease of let-7 expression in activated T cells enhances clonal expansion and the acquisition of effector function through derepression of the let-7 targets, including Myc and Eomesodermin. Ultimately, we have identified a novel let-7-mediated mechanism, which acts as a molecular brake controlling the magnitude of CD8 T cell responses.
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Regulatory and Exhausted T Cell Responses to AAV CapsidRecombinant adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) are quickly becoming the preferred viral vector for viral gene delivery for the treatment of a wide variety of genetic disorders. However, since their use in a clinical trial targeting hemophilia B patients 10 years ago, immune responses to the AAV capsid appear to have hampered some of the early clinical gene transfer efficacy. Indeed, AAV-based gene transfer has been shown to reactivate capsid-specific memory T cells, which have correlated with a decline in AAV-transduced tissue in some patients. Importantly, clinical trials have also shown that this reactivation can be quelled by administering time-course taper of glucocorticoid steroids before or after dosing. More recently, two clinical studies have shown that AAV gene transfer is not only able to induce a deleterious immune response, but also can result in the initiation of a tolerance to the AAV capsid mediated by regulatory T cells and exhausted T cells. This article reviews clinical trials describing immune responses to AAV, as well as the mechanisms responsible for immune tolerance in chronic infections and how it could apply to AAV-based gene transfer. A better understanding of both cytotoxic and tolerogenic immune responses to recombinant AAV will lead to safer gene transfer protocols in patients.
