Abstract
Immunological memory depends on the long-term maintenance of memory T cells. Although the factors that maintain CD8 T cell memory are well understood, those responsible for CD4 memory are not well defined. We have shown here that interleukin 7 (IL-7) was an important survival factor for CD4 memory T cells that together with T cell receptor (TCR) signals regulated homeostasis of the CD4 memory population in lymphopenic conditions and in the intact immune system. Thus, IL-7 contributes to the maintenance of all naive and memory T cell subsets, and therefore controls the overall size of the T cell pool.
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Acknowledgements
We thank T. Norton, K. Williams and the Biological Services staff for assistance with mouse breeding and typing. We also thank B. Stockinger and G. Kassiotis, as well as other members of the Division of Molecular Immunology, for discussions. This work was supported by the Medical Research Council and the Leukaemia Research Fund, UK.
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Seddon, B., Tomlinson, P. & Zamoyska, R. Interleukin 7 and T cell receptor signals regulate homeostasis of CD4 memory cells. Nat Immunol 4, 680–686 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/ni946
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ni946
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